Bento box, Ashio Prisoner of War Camp, Tochigi, Japan, 1945 (c)

Wicker basket, World War Two, Far East (1941-1945).

Bento boxes were used in Japanese prisoner of war camps to put food in. Prisoners were rarely given enough rations to survive on. A diet of plain rice with a few vegetables or seaweed was common. This poor diet weakened men already exhausted by hard labour and debilitated by disease and illness. Their plight was exacerbated by inadequate medical facilities and harsh discipline.

This Japanese bento box was issued by the prison camp staff at Ashio to prisoners of war. The prisoner of war camp at Ashio, in Tochigi, Japan, supplied local copper mines with slave labour during World War Two.