Bento vendors keep dishing, even after raid
Asahi Shimbun
YOKOHAMA--A battle over bento boxed lunches is brewing in business districts here, with police trying to crack down on renegade bento stalls, and vendors refusing to be pushed off the streets.
On the sidelines are the restaurants that protest the incursion on their business by the cheap bento stands.
And then there are the office workers, who champion the bento lunch as a way to conserve their whittled-down pocket money.
``It's cheap and convenient. I hope the police tolerate them,'' said one bento fan.
``Bento stalls are fixtures (here). I hope the police will stop being so boorish, '' said another.
One of the biggest crackdowns in Yokohama came in August, when police issued warnings to bento vendors that their sales on public streets were illegal without the proper permits.
