重箱

From Old Japanese. Compound of 重ね (kasane, “a pile, a tier, a ply”) +‎ 箱 (hako, “a box”), the first element being the 連用形 (ren'yōkei, “continuative or stem form”) of classical verb 重ぬ kasanu, modern 重ねる kasaneru, “to make a pile of something, to stack something up”. The hako changes to bako as an instance of rendaku (連濁).

This reading appears to be rare.

• IPA^(key): [ka̠sa̠ne̞ba̠ko̞]

重(かさね)箱(ばこ) • (kasanebako) 

1. (rare) tiered boxes for holding and presenting food, such as 弁当 (bentō, “bento”) or New Year's お節 (osechi, special dishes usually only served at the new year)

Origin less clear. Chinese-derived on'yomi 重 (jū, “to stack”) + Old Japanese 箱 (hako, “box”). The hako changes to bako as an instance of rendaku (連濁).

This is the standard reading for this term.

• (Tokyo) じゅうばこ [jùúbákó] (Heiban – [0])^[1]
• IPA^(key): [d͡ʑɨːba̠ko̞]

重(じゅう)箱(ばこ) • (jūbako) ^{←ぢゆうばこ (dyuubako)?}

1. tiered boxes for holding and presenting food, such as 弁当 (bentō, “bento”) or New Year's お節 (osechi, special dishes usually only served at the new year)

   These are traditionally made of wood and often lacquered, coming in sets designed to stack two, three, or even more layers high. Often square, jūbako may also come in different shapes. A set usually comes with a lid for the top layer.