Bread

It is said that Japan has more types of bread than any other country. Buns in Japan are filled with custard cream, sweet bean paste, or even curry. Bread made its first appearance in Japan in the 16th century. It probably came along with a shipment of firearms, from a Portuguese ship that drifted ashore in southern Japan. In fact, the Japanese word for bread is "pan," which comes from the Portuguese. A new bread product in the late-19th century incorporated a traditional Japanese sweet into Western bread. It led to a surge in bread's popularity with the masses. Since then, Japanese bakers have continued to create recipes that suit Japanese tastes, making bread an integral part of the Japanese diet. On this edition of BEGIN Japanology, our theme is bread. We'll see how bread worked its way into a country that has a culture founded on rice, and explore the latest trends in Japanese baking.