Hello and hajimemashite. I'm Ame from Chicago and I'm completely new to bento. Um, I'm not really sure what to say here. heh. I got into all of this stuff through manga/anime and I'm trying really hard to learn Japanese. I'm really interested in culinary arts and such, (I'm concidering making it my new major) and Japanese cuisine is just the thing for me. I'm an omnivore, although I cook for a lactoseintolerant vegetarian (which makes this harder), so I want to learn some recipes to please us both! I hope to make some friends on here and to grow in my knowledge of Japanese cuisine, not to mention have some fun!