Random Picture #181

One of the things which I liked about Japanese bakeries was the tendency to fashion their bread products in the shapes of animals or characters. Where I was born and raised, I don't think we ever had what would be considered a "real" bakery and my first experience with this sort of bread artistry came in Japan.

Upon returning to the U.S. and learning that they actually do such things here as well, I was a little less impressed, especially with some of the more mass-produced-looking results such as the bears shown above. The one in the front looks like he has been punched in the snout. The one behind him looks rather deformed.

I never really thought much about it, but I wonder if Japanese customers would avoid malformed character bread. Since Japanese consumers are renowned for their fussiness, it would make sense that they would prefer not to get a mutant bear bread. After all, if it's not pretty, what's the point of getting a shaped bread at all? Considering that these are small (about the size of your palm) and cost 200 yen (about $2) each, I'm not sure it's worth paying the somewhat premium price for substandard work.

Random Picture #135

No, this picture is not a representation of "Christmas creep" in Japan, though, frankly, it's a little more understandable if they experience it than Americans do. They don't have Thanksgiving between Halloween and Christmas so there is no other holiday stopping them from jumping in with both feet into "the most wonderful time of the year".

This is a picture from my time in Japan of some holiday items in a the Queen's Isetan bakery. This particular bakery was about 12 minutes on foot from my former apartment and many days my husband and I would walk there with hopes and expectations only to have them dashed. Queen's Isetan made lovely bread, but most of their pastries suffered from a terminal case of "breadiness". That is, there was a lot of bread, and very little of anything else the pastry's description promised. These cubes are supposed to have vanilla cream and the snowmen are supposed to have chocolate. What they tended to have was the merest hint of filling a whole lot of stuff that'd make nice toast. Still, the snowmen are cutely corpulent, and the cubes have a symmetrical beauty. Looks should count for something, too, after all.

Random Picture #136

Both photos courtesy of BlogD (used with permission). 

It's nice to see that the Japanese merchants are really getting into the spirit of the season. That's the spirit of selling more stuff to people, of course. These are kabocha (Japanese pumpkin) cream bread which were on sale in Ikebukuro. The face is a chocolate cookie mixture, probably similar to the coating on melon pan. The bread is pumpkin flavored and inside is custard cream. I'd be happy to sample these if I were in Tokyo if it weren't for the fact that they look like a family that didn't look like cream bread created close enough to  Fukushima's nuclear plant to create some unfortunate results. These are actually very unusual in that they are rather sloppily made for a Japanese bakery. Usually, they're  more meticulous than this.

The cheesecakes in this picture are much closer to what one would expect from a Japanese bakery. They are "rare cheesecakes" (like New York style, except lighter, as opposed to baked cheesecake) and the stenciling is pretty perfect looking. Despite having pumpkins on them, they aren't pumpkin flavored, though those are mini pumpkin pies down below. I wonder if those pies are Japanese pumpkin (kabocha) or American. Yes, the taste is very different. I wouldn't buy one though as 845 yen ($10.65) is far too expensive for a tiny pie.

Random Picture #106

It may surprise no one that I have been taking pictures of food all over Japan like a mad woman since I know that I'll not have the chance to do so in the future. That being said, I still hold out hope for interesting shots to share even after I go home. Who knows what sort of shopping experiences I'll have in California (where I'll eventually end up, but am not starting from). It's not exactly a wasteland when it comes to Japanese food. Even when I lived there 23 years ago, I was able to buy packets of instant miso soup at a local Safeway. 

Some experiences will never quite be the same no matter what, and one of them will be the Japanese bakery experience. For one thing, I expect everything to be much bigger back home. I also expect that presentation will be less impressive. Finally, I expect far less decadent textures and richness. All Japanese bread products are on the fat-heavy side in my experience. Of course, this picture is meant to illustrate the "cute" side. 

One of my Japanese friends started a Facebook group for animal breads and I joined rather belatedly and found this picture of bear bread. Actually, I found that the vast majority of animal bread in Japan is "bear bread" as it's probably easiest to make, but am still hoping to participate in the group with some more imaginative offerings after I get back to the U.S.