Japanese Bread Culture [Bilingual Article]

Article by Burcu (Translated in Japanese by CDJapan Staff)

Nagasaki, which is on the northwest coast of Japan's Kyushu Island, was an important Portuguese trading base at the end of the 16th century.
日本の九州の北西海岸に位置する長崎は、16世紀末にはポルトガルとの重要な貿易拠点であった。

Also, bread reached Japan with the arrival of the Portuguese. It's said that the Japanese word for bread (which is "pan", パン) comes from the Portuguese word for bread (which is "pão").
また、パンはポルトガル人の渡来とともに日本に伝わった。日本語でパンを意味する言葉「パン」は、ポルトガル語でパンを意味する言葉「pão」から来ていると言われている。*発音が似ている。

In the 19th century, bread became preferable as much as rice around Japan. Even there are unique local breads around Japan.
19世紀になると、日本では米と同じくらいパンが好まれるようになった。日本各地にはユニークなパン(=ご当地パン)がある。

For example, Kochi Prefecture is famous for Boushi-Pan (bread hat), Shimane is famous for Bara-pan (rose-shaped bread), Tochigi Prefecture is famous for Onsen-pan (Onsen bread), and Hokkaido is famous for its shokupan (milk bread).
例えば、高知県は「帽子パン」(帽子の形をしている)、島根県は「薔薇パン」(薔薇の形をしている)、栃木県は「温泉パン」、北海道は「食パン」が有名だ。

Anpan, which is bread with azuki bean paste filling; melon pan, which is bread covered with biscuit dough; curry pan, which is deep fried dough covered with bread crumbs and has a curry filling in it; yakisoba pan, which is basically yakisoba in hot dog bun; Fruit Sando, which is soft bread filled with whipped cream and fresh seasonal fruits, are well-known bread varieties in Japan.
パンに小豆餡を包んだ「あんぱん」、ビスケット生地でパンを包んだ「メロンパン」、パン粉をまぶして揚げた生地にカレーを包んだ「カレーパン」、ホットドッグパンに焼きそばを挟んだ「焼きそばパン」、ソフトなパンに生クリームと季節のフルーツを挟んだ「フルーツサンド」などが日本でよく知られているパンである。

Words You May Want To Learn:

Curry Bread=カレーパン (Kareepan)
Shokupan / Milk Bread=食パン (Shokupan)
Anpan=あんパン (Anpan)
Melon Pan=メロンパン (Meronpan)
Yakisoba Bread=焼きそばパン (Yakisoba Pan)
Fruit Sandwich=フルーツサンド (Furutsusando)

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