Hiroko Tanahashi presents the culture of Ekiben as it is in Japan, and juxtaposes her own Ekiben ideas. She invents her own imaginary Ekiben and visualizes them. The posters created show her Kakegami drawings as well as the explanations of the stories that they narrate. Gallery owner and chef Ulrich Krauss interprets the themes of Hirokos Ekibens and serves them upon reservation.

The Presentation of Ekiben Cultures:
The exhibition consists of two rooms. The first, and smaller room is a two-wall miniature Ekiben museum that shows real Kakegami desings. On a video loop the visitors can watch and listen to the President of NER, the most established Ekiben producer today.
The second and larger room shows a spatial installation that shows eight original train benches with foldable tables. They are mounted on wooden palettes and in two rows of four each, as if they were in a train.
The window is covered with a screen foil. We see fast passing landscape projected from the outside. The room windows become train windows of a moving train in a non-distinctive landscape.
The other three walls of the room show four A0 color prints that show the Kakegami, the contents and the story of fictitious Ekiben.

The Moving Dinner:
Up to 16 visiting guests can enjoy a culinary experience. Seated in the real train seats Ulrich Krauss serves his own creations of Ekiben that are inspired by the artwork of Hiroko Tanahashi. The guests will have the illusion they are on a train ride, a journey long enough to even eat more than one Ekiben.

＜Selected Press Response＞

... "The train keeps on traveling with reality and fiction as its passengers experience this voyage though the mdeium of Bento. No one knows wehre the train is headed. It maybe a journey called life, with its uncertain destination."
Kawai Sumie, Bijutsu Techo October 2004, Japan