Japanese Breads: Sweet Superheroes From Anpanman

Anpanman is a character that every Japanese child knows. And at every bakery and convenience store you will find anpan, a soft bread filled with sweet red bean paste. When you come to Japan, you will see Anpanman toys, clothes, notebooks, bento boxes, books, bicycles, and pretty much any kind of branded good you can imagine.

Anpanman アンパンマン really is sweet. He is a kind, friendly superhero who helps and protects his friends from anything bad. He can fly and his head is an anpan bread. If he gets into trouble or feels week, he gets a new replacement head baked and with it he is superstrong again.

There are many characters in the Anpanman series. I already introduced some of the good savoury ones, Karepanman / Currypanman and Yakisobapanman here.

http://www.deepjapan.org/a/3333

Among Anpanman's friends and the main sweet good guys of the series we also find Melonpanna-chan and Creampanda.

Melonpanna-chan メロンパンナちゃん has a bread head like Anpanman. Her head of course is a melonpan. Melonpan is one of the most popular kinds of sweet bread in Japan. Any place that sells bread will have melonpan. It is a soft round roll covered in a sweet crust like a soft cookie rolled out thinly. Usually melonpan is just very sweet, but does not taste like melon. Different shops and regions have different flavour and color ones.

Melonpanna-chan has a soft heart. When she punches someone it makes them soften up, even the most evil characters. If she needs help Anpanman comes flying. Her older sister is Rollpanna-chan, a bread roll.

http://anpanman.jp/sekai/friends/melonpan.html

Creampanda クリームパンダ is a young boy who is very fond of Anpanman. His head is a cream roll, a soft bread filled with sweet cream. He always tries hard to do things himself, but he is not as skilled as Anpanman. Still, if there is a bad guy he can deliver quite a strong punch.

http://anpanman.jp/sekai/friends/creampan.html

Creampan is also among the most popular sweet breads in Japan. You will find it displayed with anpan and melonpan at bakeries.

Try these breads and have fun with the Anpanman characters and toys.