The small questions

When you've answered the big questions you start looking at the little ones and realise, they aren't so little after all. Take your humble bento box, sushi platter, or sushi/sashimi combination and ask yourself: why is it they're adorned with a small slip of plastic grass? In cheap Japanese restaurants, expensive ones, take-away joints too...

But why?

Is there a historical reason for the plastic grass in my bento box? Where does it come from? Is there a factory in China that makes plastic grass - exclusively - plastic - grass? Do the people who work there, pumping out metre upon metre of plastic grass wonder why?

Why am I making plastic grass? Where does all this plastic grass go?

Or do they know it adorns sushi platters the world over? If they do - do they wonder what's deficient about a sushi platter that it should require adornment with a piece of plastic grass?

Do they get together with their mates from the fake flower factory after work and wonder what it is that's wrong with people that they can find a use for such redundancies?

I really would like to know.