 | |
| Type | Sweet roll |
|---|---|
| Course | Dessert |
| Place of origin | Japan |
| Region or state | Ginza,Tokyo |
| Created by | Yasubei Kimura |
| Main ingredients | Red bean paste |
Anpan (あんパン;餡パン) is a Japanesesweet roll, most commonly filled withred bean paste. Anpan can also be prepared with other fillings, including white beans (shiro-an), green beans (uguisu-an),sesame (goma-an), andchestnuts (kuri-an).
Anpan was first made in 1875, during theMeiji period, byYasubei Kimura [ja] (木村安兵衛Kimura Yasubei), asamurai who lost his job with the rise of theImperial Japanese Army and thedissolution of the samurai as a social class.[1] The Meiji era was a period in which Japan was becoming increasingly modernized, and many samurai who lost their jobs were given work that was totally new to them. The role of abaker was one such job.
One day, while wandering around the area where many employed in new jobs worked, Kimura found a young man making bread, and decided to start his ownbakery, named Bun'eidō (文英堂). In 1874, he moved toGinza and renamed the bakeryKimuraya (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. Kimura thus figured out how to make bread akin tomanjū, raising the dough with traditionalsakadane liquidyeast. He then filled the bread with a bean pastewagashi and sold the resulting rolls as snacks. 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]
Emperor Meiji andEmpress Shōken later acquired a fondness for anpan after Kimura, via chamberlainYamaoka Tesshū, prepared it for them to eat duringhanami. Concerned with their appearance, he decorated them with a salt-pickledsakura 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. Because of its newfound association with royalty, the popularity of anpan, and bread as a whole, increased throughout Japan.[citation needed]
"Anpan" is often used as slang forrecreational inhalation ofpaint thinner.[2]
The picture book andanime seriesAnpanman is about asuperhero whose head is made of anpan.
The anime and picture book characterKogepan is an anthropomorphized burned anpan.[3]
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