"In Japan, kabocha squash are in season from summer to fall, but in North America and Europe fall (autumn) is the big winter squash season. Frozen kabocha squash is a great freezer stock item for bento making, and it’s very cheap and ubiquitous in Japan. Since it’s not so ubiquitous where I live, I try to freeze some of my own around this time of year, when fresh ones are abundant and inexpensive. The type of squash I usually use is the bright orange colored one sold as red kuri squash, hokkaido squash, and so on, since it’s the one that is most widely available here. (Kuri is Japanese for chestnut - I’m not sure if the name refers to the shape or the flavor. Hokkaido is the northernmost main island of Japan, where a lot of squash are grown.) Here in Switzerland it’s called Knirps. See more about different kinds of winter squash here. The standard kabocha squash is about 10 inches / 25 cm or so in diameter and a dark green; a well known variety is delica. In any case, make sure you have the right type of squash - it should have a dense, sweet flesh. Pumpkin is too watery and stringy for most Japanese kabocha dishes." - Steven Perez from Bookmarklet