Anpan: Difference between revisions

{{InfoboxItalic preparedtitle}}{{Infobox food

| image = Bean-jam-bun,anpan,katori-city,japanAnpan 001.JPGjpg

| region =[[Ginza]], [[Tokyo]]

| main_ingredient = [[redRed bean paste]]

[[Image:Ginza kimuraya Bread.jpg|thumb|Kimuraya in [[Ginza]] Kimuraya]]

{{Nihongo|'''''Anpan'''''|あんパン|extra={{ruby-ja|{{wikt-lang|ja|餡}}|あん}}パン}} is a [[Japan]]eseJapanese [[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 [[chestnut|chestnuts]] (''kuri-an'').

Anpan was first made in 1875, during the [[Meiji period]], by a man called {{ill|Yasubei Kimura|ja|木村安兵衛}} (木村安兵衛 ''Kimura Yasubei''), a [[samurai]] who lost his job with the rise of the conscript [[Imperial Japanese Army]] and the [[Abolition of the han system|dissolution of the samurai as a social class]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Nakayama |first=Keiko |date=2006 |title=Encyclopedia: World of Wagashi| isbn=978-4000803076}}</ref> The Meiji era was a period in which Japan was becoming increasingly westernizedmodernized, and many samurai who lost their jobs were given work that was totally new to them. The Western role of a [[baker]] was one such job.

One day, while wandering around the area where many people employed in Westernnew jobs worked, Kimura Yasubei found a young man making breadsbread, and andecided ideato wasstart born;his the starting of theown [[bakery]], named ''Bun'eidō'' (文英堂). In 1874, he moved to [[Ginza]] and renamed the bakery ''[[Kimuraya'']] (木村屋), now Kimuraya Sohonten ([[:ja:木村屋總本店]]). At that time, however, the only recipe for bread known in Japan was for making a salty and sour-tasting bread, ill-suited to Japanese tastes at the time. YasubeiKimura wanted to make a bread that was more to Japanese tastes. Finally, hethus figured out how to make bread inakin the way of the Japaneseto ''[[manju (confection)|manjumanjū]] –'', raising the dough with the traditional ''sakadane'' liquid [[yeast]]. He then filled the bread with a bean paste ''[[wagashi]]'' and sold anpanthe resulting rolls as snacks. Anpan was verybecame popular, not only because of its taste, but also because the Japanese were interested in anything new and foreign at this time.{{citation needed|date=February 2022}}

Later, a man called [[YamaokaEmperor TesshūMeiji]], a chamberlain of theand [[EmperorEmpress MeijiShōken]] oflater Japan|Meijiacquired emperor]],a whofondness lovedfor anpan after Kimura, askedvia thechamberlain [[TokugawaYamaoka shogunate|TokugawasTesshū]], theprepared rulersit offor Japan before the Meiji Period,them to presenteat anpansduring to the emperor when visiting him''[[hanami]]''. SoConcerned the Tokugawas asked Yasubei to make some for the emperor. Yasubei worked hard to make the anpan and, because he also cared aboutwith their appearance, he decorated them with a salt-pickled [[Cherry blossom|sakura]] in the middle of each bun. ThisThese anpan waswere presented to the Meiji emperor and empress on April 4, 1875., Theafter Emperorwhich toldthe Yasubeiemperor torequested presentanpan himfrom anpanKimura everyon day,a andregular becausebasis. Because of theits rumornewfound thatassociation thewith Emperor ate anpanroyalty, the popularity of breadanpan, and especiallybread anpan,as begana spreadingwhole, aroundincreased thethroughout countryJapan.{{citation needed|date=February 2013}}

==Influence on JapaneseIn popular culture==

The picture book and [[anime]] series ''[[Anpanman]]'' is about a [[superhero]] whose head is made of anpan.

* {{Citation | url = http://www.kimuraya-sohonten.co.jp/ | title = Kimuraya Sohonten | language = Japaneseja | accessdateaccess-date = 21 March 2006}}.

* {{Citation | url = http://www.shejapan.com/jtyeholder/jtye/living/anpan/anpan1.html | title = The Birth of Anpan | publisher = She Japan | accessdateaccess-date = 21 March 2006}}.