Afterword

When I was young, I didn’t like eating plain white rice—I needed to have something on top of it or mixed with other ingredients. When I entered elementary school, lunchtime was one of my least favourite times. The school prepared lunch for us every day and we had rice three times a week. My teacher didn’t allow us to leave the table if we didn’t finish our meals. I was usually the last one at the table on the days when white rice was served. When I confessed to my mother that I didn’t enjoy lunch at school, she advised me to make onigiri. I brought cling wrap to school and made onigiri using side dishes as fillings. Since then, my lunch at school turned out fun and creative. In fact, my schoolmates started making onigiri with me and experimenting with fillings!