Masaaki-sama’s Sacred Word One evening meal, knowing that Mami was creating various designs for the children’s bento boxes, I unconsciously let out, “Can you do the Angolan and Brazilian flags?” Needless to say, what followed was a moment of excitement from the whole family, including the children. “You can use this ingredient for the Brazilian yellow part!” “Actually, maybe this ingredient would match better!” And the cogwheel part of the Angola flag—what attention to detail! That morning, as I was working in the room next door, when I usually hear a little more noise from the kitchen, this time, there was not a sound for quite some time. Wondering what had happened, I took a peek, and there Mami was, cutting out the cogwheel in all seriousness. The key colors of the Brazilian flag, green and yellow, pop out—the vibrant green of the flag was truly captured by the field mustard greens. Reproduction accuracy: high. To Mami who put my love for Angola and Brazil into form like this; to my children who came up with many ideas for the bentos and who happily ate them; to the Japanese members who present us with ingredients as offerings that go into making bentos like these; and most of all, to the Angolan and Brazilian members—if they did not exist, we could not have this love for Angola or Brazil—to those members who let us have this love for the two countries: I express my deepest gratitude to all. *** Following the Brazil bento, Mami-okusama now shares with us the Angola bento! The episode of Mami-okusama silently cutting out the cogwheel of the Angolan flag in the kitchen in the early hours—so early it could be called late night—when everything was hushed and still, made me let out a gasp of admiration at her unimaginable effort. Even looking at the photo, this extraordinary artistry goes beyond the category of bento boxes! We heard that the flavor was also exquisite, and the children were absolutely delighted. With Masaaki-sama’s family’s profound love for Angola, the Angolan members are surely responding right now with songs and dances of joy! [Bento Menu]• 30% polished rice cooked in clay pot (250g) 🍚• For the upper half of the flag, I expressed red with homemade pickled plums matured for three years that made into a paste, and for the lower half, black with simmered hijiki.• For the central motif, I made cuts in kabocha (Japanese pumpkin) and steamed it so the shape would not fall apart.• In the other bento box, I envisioned a garden overflowing with flowers and greenery. Mami-okusama’s extraordinary artistry in this super cute vegan bento, no. 18Likes, saves and shares are most welcome! ✨ ***About Mami-okusama (Mami Okada)She was born in Aichi Prefecture and grew up in a farming household. She is also known as “Japan’s vegan beauty.” During her studies at University of Tsukuba, she became actively involved in volunteer activities such as refugee support. She was also repeatedly asked to participate in the “Miss Tsukuba” contest and was approached by many modeling agencies, but she declined all of these offers as she wanted to focus on refugee support activities. In recognition of her efforts in refugee support, she received the “University of Tsukuba President’s Award” in 2012. She holds a license to teach English to intermediate and high school students. After graduating from university, she began working for World Church of Messiah in 2013. In 2014, she married Masaaki Okada (Masaaki-sama), the great-grandson of the founder of World Church of Messiah, Mokichi Okada (Meishu-sama 1882-1955), and the representative and successor of Kyoshu-sama. Currently, while raising three children, she is single-mindedly walking the path of God, including working more energetically unlike anyone else on the Sacred Word of the founder, “In the world of Miroku, humanity will follow a vegan diet,” which was resurrected in our day by Masaaki-sama. She currently resides in Atami City.