In Japan, two very special waiters have become internationally famous. Yatchan and Fukuchan are waiters in a restaurant north of Tokyo. They serve customers hot towels and drinks and are tipped in a very special currency…. soy beans….. why not real money? Because they are - monkeys!

How did this happen? The family that runs the restaurant welcomed Yatchan and Fukuchan into their home as pets. The owner, Mr Otsuka, says that the monkeys watched him serving customers and remembered how to do it. Monkey see, monkey do, right? “Lots of customers come to watch the monkeys. They work every day,” said Mr Otsuka. And they seem to have fun while doing it!

The question is: Are monkeys better waiters? I think so. I’d prefer monkeys to lazy waiters who never let me order or pay when I want to.

Michel de Montaigne said, “My trade and art is to live” (”Mon seul métier et mon seul art, c’est vivre“). To live your life as artily as possible, you don’t have to worry about what you are going to eat. But, you’d better think carefully about what you are going to eat. To make your lunch time beautiful, Bento Art awaits you, to feast your eyes on what your stomach is about to enjoy.

What is bento? Bento, or o-bento, refers to a packaged, single-portion, ready-made meal that is usually eaten at lunch. However, it also comes in larger sizes meant for picnics, dinners, and parties. It is pretty new to European culture, but in Japan or Korea students often bring their lunches to school and sometimes there is a little competition among school moms to make their Bento nicer and healthier than their counterparts.

This series of photos shows how far Bento goes for art.

I’m not sure I would like to eat smiling figures for lunch or not…

Image source: http://fiveprime.org

I have to admit that I pick up random objects and pretend that they are my cell phones. Cups, bananas, shoes, toys, headsets, watermelons, umbrellas, cats, hamsters, but never would I have thought of picking up teddy bears.

Well, Japanese cellular provider Wilcom presented Kuma phone at the 2008 Good Design Expo. Its a teddy bear phone with a SIM card inside and by squeezing or grabbing the cub’s paw you can call someone. Of course you need to store speed dial numbers on each paw.

It is 500 US dollars per unit. Or you can find your old teddy bear and pretend you are talking on the phone. Anyway, it’s all same, if you are in the metro with a brown teddy bear in your arms. Or if you talk on the Kuma teddy bear in front of your boss. No one will think anything of it. I do it all the time with my Rabbit.

Photo credit: CScoutjapan.com