3 days ago
Popularity of Kobe Bakery's ‘Anshoku' Bread Extends Beyond City Borders; Bakery Maintains ‘Local' Feel Despite Being Beloved Nationally
KOBE — The anshoku bread baked by the Kobe-based Tommy's bakery company is not only beloved by locals but also by those living outside the city.
The dough is marbled with anko sweet bean paste, so each loaf of the soft, moist bread is heavier than standard white bread.
The bread's name is a combination of anko and shokupan, which refers to Japanese milk bread.
The fluffy and airy texture of the bread is really noticeable when the slices are thick. Lightly toasting the bread and spreading butter on it enhances the anko's sweetness, as it mixes with the slight saltiness of the butter.
The bread originates in Kobe but now has fans nationwide.
'We ship the product to department stores and high-end supermarkets,' said Takashi Kikuchi, 55, a board member and sales director of the company. 'We send them three to five times more than what we sell in our stores.'
The company was founded in 1977 by Kikuchi's father Tomio, who died in 2020 at the age of 79. The first store was opened in the Dainichi Shotengai shopping area near Hankyu Kasuganomichi Station in Chuo Ward, Kobe.
Kikuchi's brother Hiroshi, 52, is the current president of the company.
Tomio was from Okinoerabu Island in Kagoshima Prefecture. After graduating from junior high school, he moved to Okinawa Prefecture, which was still occupied by the United States, and worked as a salesman for a company that sold baking and confectionery materials. There, he learned about what was necessary for baking delicious bread.
Tomio opened a bakery in Kobe, where his wife Yasuko, 82, is from. Since then, the bakery's breads have been loved by the local community.
Tomio was particular about shokupan. Despite the high cost of fresh cream, which has a high fat content, he used it to bake soft, moist bread.
Anshoku, the bakery's signature bread, was created based on the requests of his regulars. They would ask him such questions as 'My children won't eat the crusts, so do you have bread that has a delicious crust?' and 'You sell anpan sweet bean paste buns, so can't you put anko in shokupan?'
He developed the recipe through trial and error and used a method of manually mixing anko, made from azuki beans with a high sugar content from Hokkaido, into the dough.
As the popularity of anshoku boomed, the company needed more company moved to the Sumiyoshidai district in Higashinada Ward, Kobe, in 1980. Over 10 years ago, it moved again to Uozaki Minami-Machi district in the ward, where the company's main store and factory are now located.
The company bakes up to 3,000 loaves of anshoku per day, along with 50 to 60 breads and sell at its stores. During its busy season, the factory operates 24 hours a day.
Despite the rising cost of raw materials, the company sells most of its baked goods for ¥180, sticking to its policy that it prefers to sell delicious bread at an affordable price.
While the company is known nationwide, it remains a 'local bakery.'
This year, the company began providing free bread to local kodomo shokudo — a social program in which children can eat a meal for free or at a low price.
'The company's baked goods are served for children's lunches and snacks, as well as at events where local elderly people can meet and talk to each other,' said Meiko Murayama, director of a nonprofit that runs the local kodomo shokudo. 'They love the breads and look forward to eating them.'
Tommy's bakery also operates a mobile store at a nursing facility for the elderly near where the main store had been located for many years in Sumiyoshidai.
'It's wonderful to see our longtime customers happy again,' Takashi Kikuchi said, as he watched the elderly customers reminisce while making their selections.
'We're fortunate to have something new to do every day,' Kikuchi added. 'From now on, we want to participate in special events in the suburbs to increase our visibility.'
