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Anpan

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Anpan
TypeSweet roll
CourseDessert
Place of originJapan
Region or stateGinza, Tokyo
Created byYasubei Kimura
Main ingredientsRed bean paste
  •  Wikimedia Commons logo Media: Anpan

Anpan (あんパン; 餡パン) is a Japanese sweet roll, most commonly filled with red bean paste. Anpan can also be prepared with other fillings, including white beans (shiro-an), green beans (uguisu-an), sesame (goma-an), and chestnuts (kuri-an). The name is a compound word, combining an (sweet bean paste) and pan (bread).

Description

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Anpan is a sweet roll filled with red bean paste;[1] a compound word, an refers to the paste, while pan is the Japanese word for bread.[2] Unlike the steamed manjū that anpan is modeled on, anpan is baked or fried. In addition to the original poppy seed and white sesame seed toppings, modern bakeries, including the still extant Kimuraya (木村屋), produce anpan with a variety of fillings and toppings such as salt-pickled cherry blossoms, chocolate, curry, custard, and pork chops.[2] The roll is usually made of flour, sugar, salt, dry yeast, milk, eggs, and butter.[3]

History

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Kimuraya in Ginza

Anpan was first made sometime between 1871[4] and 1875 in the Meiji era, as Western bakeries gained popularity in Japan for the first time.[5] Its creator, Yasubei Kimura [ja] (木村安兵衛 Kimura Yasubei), was a samurai who lost his job with the rise of the Imperial Japanese Army and the dissolution of the samurai as a social class.[6][page needed] The Meiji era marked a period of rapid modernization in Japan, and the usage of bread began to spread. However, the Western-style bread was disliked by the Japanese public. Kimura and his son took inspiration from wagashi and created sakadane, a unique Japanese yeast.[7]

Kimura first created a bakery named Bun'eidō (文英堂) in 1869,[7] the first owned in Japan by a Japanese person.[2]
s In 1874, he moved to Ginza and renamed the bakery Kimuraya,[8] now Kimuraya Sohonten.[7] Anpan became popular not only because of its taste, but also because the Japanese were interested in anything new and foreign at that time.[citation needed] In Kimura's original formulation, two anpan were sold: those with white sesame seeds atop, and others with poppy seeds atop.[2]

Emperor Meiji later acquired a fondness for anpan after Kimura, via chamberlain Yamaoka Tesshū, prepared it for them to eat during hanami. Concerned with their appearance, he decorated them with a salt-pickled sakura in the middle of each bun. These anpan were presented to the emperor and empress on April 4, 1875, after which the emperor requested anpan from Kimura on a regular basis.[4] Because of its newfound association with royalty, the popularity of anpan, and bread as a whole, increased throughout Japan. During the bunmei-kaika in late 19th-century, anpan became a symbol of the new Japanese era.[7] During the First Sino-Japanese War, anpan was consumed by soldiers across Japan. By 1897, Kimuraya had sold around 100,000 anpan per day.[4]

By the early 20th century, anpan were popularly perceived to be prepared the day before, bringing concerns that it could grow stale and harm children consuming the rolls. A description in the period of schoolchildren described around a quarter forgoing their lunchboxes for anpan.[9] By the World War II, anpan became a common food staple in Japan.[4] In the 21st century, anpan are widely regarded as a staple of Japanese bakery culture and are often cited as one of the most recognizable examples of Western-influenced "Japanese bread" products.[10] Anpan can be bought in stores, such as Family Mart.[11]

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Anpan is celebrated on April 4 in Japan as the Anpan Day.[4]

By the end of World War II, Takashi Yanase, who was in China, had a memory of enjoying eating anpan. After he returned to Japan, he became a graphic designer for Mitsukoshi, while also creating mangas as a hobby. In 1973, he created Anpanman,[4] a picture book and anime series about a superhero whose head is made of anpan. By 2017, five museums based on the franchise existed in cities across Japan.[10] The anime and picture book character Kogepan is an anthropomorphized burned anpan.[12]

"Anpan" is often used as slang for recreational inhalation of paint thinner.[13]

References

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  1. ↑ "Anpan: Japan's Classic Sweet Snack Bread". Nippon.com. August 25, 2025. Retrieved September 29, 2026.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Smil, Vaclav; Kobayashi, Kazuhiko (2012). Japan's Dietary Transition and Its Impacts. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press. p. 21. ISBN 978-0-262-01782-4.
  3. ↑ "Anpan (An buns)". NHK World-Japan. November 27, 2015. Retrieved September 29, 2026.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Tomas, Russel (April 21, 2025). "Story behind Japan's beloved baked treat Anpan". Stars and Stripes: Okinawa. Retrieved September 29, 2026.
  5. ↑ Jacob, Jeanne (2022). Food Cultures of Japan: Recipes, Customs, and Issues. Santa Barbara, California & Denver, Colorado: Greenwood. pp. xxi. ISBN 978-1-4408-6683-8.
  6. ↑ Nakayama, Keiko (2006). Encyclopedia: World of Wagashi. ISBN 978-4000803076.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Morohashi, Kumiko (August 2025). "Anpan: Born from the Fusion fo Western and Japanese Culture". Government of Japan. Retrieved September 29, 2026.
  8. ↑ Katayama, Kazuhiro (April 18, 2025). "あんパンも食パンも、もはや日本の味" [Anpan (sweet bean paste bun) and sliced bread are now considered Japanese specialties]. The Yomiuri Shimbun (in Japanese). Retrieved September 29, 2026.
  9. ↑ Mitsuda, Tatsuya (2017). "'Sweets Reimagined': The Construction of Confectionary Identities, 1890–1930". In Niehaus, Andreas; Walravens, Tine (eds.). Feeding Japan: The Cultural and Political Issues of Dependency and Risk. Palgrave Macmillan Cham. p. 73. ISBN 978-3-319-50552-7.
  10. 1 2 Sheng, Annie (2017). "Forging Ahead with Bread: Nationalism, Networks and Narratives of Progress and Modernity in Japan". In Niehaus, Andreas; Walravens, Tine (eds.). Feeding Japan: The Cultural and Political Issues of Dependency and Risk. Palgrave Macmillan Cham. pp. 197, 215. ISBN 978-3-319-50552-7.
  11. ↑ McGee, Oona (April 9, 2026). "Family Mart unveils new Japanese bread that elevates convenience store food to mocchiri levels". SoraNews24. Retrieved September 29, 2026.
  12. ↑ "焦げて、やさぐれて、後向き……人気キャラクター「こげぱん」約15年ぶり新刊発売" [Burnt, cynical, and pessimistic... A new book featuring the popular character "Kogepan" is being released for the first time in about 15 years.]. Real Sound (in Japanese). April 12, 2021. Retrieved August 26, 2025.
  13. ↑ Constantine, Peter (June 15, 1994). Japanese Slang: Uncensored. p. 176. ISBN 9784900737037.
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