That's the best image I could find. Well, no, actually, it's the first image I could find, which makes it the best. Click on the picture to go to the actual page.
That is a Japanese boxed lunch, a bento box. It has a picture (made out of something edible, I suspect) of a cartoon character on it.
Look closely. It is a rabbit, in a ballerina dress and tiara.
This is ありがとウサギ, the "thank you rabbit."
You could be forgiven for thinking it is, well, not exactly the most appealing character ever. You wouldn't be alone. The character was the subject of discussion on 2chan as to just how unappealing she, or it, was. This included the obligatory improved versions.
Much better.
But anyway, why? If you were in Japan, watching TV, any time after the March 11th quake, you know. This is why:
Click here
Immediately after the quake, there were no commercials to speak of. Slowly, the commercials returned, or rather, some commercials returned. The one linked above and a small selection of others from AC, all safe, inoffensive messages about being nice, were the only commercials, repeated sometimes three or four times in a row to fill air time. People actually complained that the "A~ C~" tune at the end was getting on their nerves, and the commercials were changed to remove it. You can find some pretty funny remixes on the tubes (and a lot of really stupid ones) if you look. None of them would make any sense either.
Everybody has seen this commercial, hundreds of times at least, in the last month and a half. It's to the point where seeing something like that almost makes me feel nostalgic, or maybe a bit sick. The idea of eating lunch with that damn rabbit on it is just...
Anyway, now I've explained. And it still doesn't make any sense.