Despite carbohydrate staples in Asia consisting mostly of rice, noodles, and occasionally some root vegetables, bread is slowly becoming a much more widely-consumed food thanks to Westernisation. Thanks to Japan’s affinity to French artisanal baked goods, it’s not difficult to come across bakeries in Japan specialising in French-style or French-influenced pastries and cakes, and Japanese households are gradually consuming bread for breakfast as compared to rice. Japan’s history with bread is an interesting one, starting with an unemployed samurai and some fermented rice.

Japan was first introduced to bread by Portuguese Christian missionaries in the 1500s, but that quickly came to an end when Japan closed its borders to the outside world later that century. When wheat was re-introduced to Japan in the 1840s, and was quickly adopted as a source of carbohydrates in the Japanese diet.

Bread in Japan, however, still had a long way to go. It was dense with a sour flavour, which was hardly suited to the light Japanese palate. Enter Yasubei Kimura, a Japanese man who started working under a Dutch baker after losing his job as a samurai. Determined to create a style of bread that was lighter and sweeter, he began experimenting with different leavening agents before coming across a method of using sakadane yeast, in the same manner used to make the a traditional Japanese snack manjū (饅頭).

Sakadane is first made by culturing wild fermentative yeast with boiled rice and koji, a mould (Aspergillus oryzae) commonly used to make Japanese products such as sake rice wine, soy sauce, and miso paste. As the acidity of the mixture increases, it supports the growth of a certain strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast, which is what causes the bubbles of gas that supports leavening of bread. It’s essentially a very similar to the process of creating your own sourdough starter by creating an environment that supports the growth of the right kind of yeasts.

Kimuraya (木村屋)

Mr. Kimura opened a bakery in 1869 to sell his bread, named Kimuraya (木村屋) in 1870, recognised as the oldest bakery in Japan. The original store still stands in Ginza, a glitzy district in the heart of Tokyo. It has obviously since seen some renovations to keep up with the times, the interior clean and chic, with a café and eating area on the second floor and restaurants on the third and fourth, but they still bake their bread on-site in order to provide the freshest product to their customers. Like true artisans, Kimuraya continues to make their sakadane starters from scratch rather than relying on commercially-produced yeast.

Anpan

Anpan (あんパン) is undoubtedly one of Kimuraya’s most famous products, and one of the most popular types of bread in Japan. It consists of a sweetened red bean paste inside a baked bun, hence its name, derived from anko (餡こ) red bean paste, and pan, taken from the French word for bread (pain). Kimuraya developed the first anpan in 1874, and like true artisans, their recipe has not changed since their first conception. Kimuraya have also not patented their recipe, allowing other bakers to make the same product as they please. You can find other Kimuraya stores around Japan, but the one in Ginza, Tokyo remains the original. Thanks to the sakadane starter, Kimuraya’s bread has a distinct fragrance and texture, a little denser than the modern super-fluffy milk bread that is more typically associated with Japanese bread. It’s absolutely delicious, and holds up well against the rich, thick, sweet bean paste jams.

You can find anpan in bakeries and convenience stores all throughout Japan. There are many variations now, including using pastes made from different kinds of beans, and a deep-fried version called agepan. Anpan also inspired a children’s superhero called Anpanman, whose head is made from anpan.

Sakura Anpan (桜あんぱん)

One of Kimuraya’s signature items is the sakura anpan (桜あんぱん), which is an anpan with a pickled sakura cherry blossom petal on the top. At the time of our visit, one piece was ¥170 (US$1.50). The lightly salted floral flavour of the petal was a really nice balance to the exceptionally smooth and sweet red bean paste.

Ichijiku Fig Jam (いちじく)

One of the recommended items was the ichijiku fig jam bun (¥200; US$1.75)), which was crammed with a sticky-sweet fig jam. Surprisingly, despite how much jam was in there, it was hardly very sweet, but had a delicious fruity flavour from the fig.

Uguisu Green Bean Paste (うぐいす)

We were curious to try different kinds of bean paste jams, and particularly uguisu, considering that we had never tried anything outside of red and white bean pastes before. It has the slight fresh flavour of something like an edamame bean, but with the smooth sweetness of a bean jam. It was really tasty! Something different, but definitely a must-try for people who love bean pastes. This bun was ¥170 (US$1.50) at the time of our visit.

Salt Lemon (塩レモン)

One of the seasonal menu items was the salt lemon anpan (¥200; US$1.75). The red bean paste is seasoned with lemon and salt, which was a trendy flavour combination at the time of our visit in mid-2019. The sweet bean paste went very well with the slightly tart lemon and the saltiness, creating a really balanced combination of flavours. This one is recommended if you’re there at the time it’s available.

Kuromame Black Bean Paste (黒まめ)

Once again we were drawn to the kuromame because we’d never eaten a sweetened black bean paste before. It has a fragrant and nutty flavour, and definitely tasty as well. One black bean bun is ¥200 (US$1,75).

Anbata Red Bean Paste and Butter (あんバター)

Definitely one of the more modern takes on anpan is anbata, which includes whipped butter with the standard red bean paste. This was created supposedly to suit the western palate of having buttered bread, and also comes inside a crustier baguette-style roll. At ¥250 (US$2.20), it’s one of the pricier buns in the bakery, but it’s also quite large and hefty, too. It’s definitely tasty, and an interesting take on their traditional style of red bean bun.

Kimuraya is a must-try for bread enthusiasts and anyone who loves Japanese food and history. They have a huge range of bread items to try out to suit any palate, including savoury options like the popular Japanese karepan, fried bread filled with curry sauce. They’re also not very big, so they make a perfect snack or a delicious light breakfast. You can read more about Kimuraya on the official website of Tokyo’s Ginza district, or on their website.

Ginza Kimuraya Sohonten (銀座木村家總本店)
4 Chome-5-7 Ginza, Chuo City, Tokyo 104-0061, Japan
Mon-Sun 10.00am-7.00pm
Website (Japanese only)

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