More on ÅBÄKE's design

The jubako is a receptacle to the unagi, yes. A final destination, somehow. There are many mysteries in the universe and it seems that the eel is one that proves nothing can ever be comprehended fully.

Through this box we celebrate the travels of the eel. Perhaps foremostly the European eel with its intercontinental life cycle. Beginning life in the far west of the Atlantic Ocean near Bermuda, being swept along by the gulf stream to Europe, to live for decades in its freshwater streams and rivers and then finally swimming back to the west Atlantic to spawn and die.

A number of extraordinary travels are featured on the Jubako :

On the top, the famous invisible island-mountain of the Mount Analogue, an unfinished novel by René Daumal.

On one side, a depiction of the balsa raft used by Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl, when, in 1947, they proved it was possible to sail the Pacific Ocean on a balsa raft.

Another side shows the distance between Munich and Paris.

In 1974 filmmaker Werner Herzog walked between the two cities, an act he believed would save the life of his friend Lotte Eisner. Luckily for us, he wrote daily about faith, solitude and philosophy in the extreme physical pain of a cold winter, the book is titled “Of Walking in Ice”.

In 1972 and 1973, the Americans sent the Pioneer 10 and 11 probes into space, carrying a message from humanity to any and all potential aliens.

And finally, on the back of the lid of the jubako and the soup bowl there is a depiction of Lucy, the fossilised remains of one of humanity’s ancient ancestors.

Our evolutionary process is perhaps more amazing than the mystery of the universe itself, and might just be the greatest journey humanity has ever travelled.