Yakitate!! Japan (焼きたて!!ジャぱん)

Yakitate!! Japan

Somewhere far away, there are people listening carefully.

In every place, there are people looking up at the sky.

Under the night sky, we, who are whistling...

without words, are just tracing constellations with our fingers.

The dreams of the cold-sensitive... Your cold hands...

The warming magic is to believe in one path.

The single star found on the other side of the comet cloud...

whether it be a shining or a faint star...

is the light of only you.

On the other side of the cloud in your heart,

is a sign post that remains unseen.

Now, opening these hands, what will you believe in today?

dokoka tooku de mimi wo sumashiteru hito ga iru

arayuru basho de sora wo miageteru hito ga iru

yozora no shita de kuchibue fuiteru bokutachi wa

kotoba mo nai mama yubi de tada seiza wo nazotteru

samugariya no yume tsumetai kimi no te

atatameru mahou wa hitotsu no michi wo shinjiru koto

houkigumo no mukou ni mitsuketa hitotsubu no hoshi wa

kagayaku hoshi demo kasukana hoshi demo

kimi dake no hikari

mune no kumo no mukou ni mienai mama no michishirube

saa kono te wo hiraite ima nani wo shinjimasuka?

The Middle Ages.

A war-torn period in which European countries were in conflict over religions and customs.

The people named their own staple food, bread, after their native lands,

and used it to measure its origin.

English bread, German bread, French bread,

and other breads bearing their country’s name were born.

Now, in the 21st century, on a small island country in Asia...

Even here in Japan, there is a boy attempting to create a unique bread.

But in order to do that...

Yeah!

It’s finally complete!

he needed Solar Hands.

Jii-chan, Baa-chan, have some of this.

My latest...

Huh?

Where’d everyone go?

It’s a burglar! Save me!

Kazuma, this isn’t the time to be baking bread.

We’re going to be late for the bullet train.

S-Sis!

Oh! That’s right.

I was going to Tokyo today.

Jeez, you’re so troublesome.

My bread! My bread!

I-I’m scared!

We’re just taking a little shortcut.

Hold on tight!

Trees!

Watch out!

I’m sorry, I’m in a hurry.

I’m going to die!

Sorry to keep you waiting.

Ah, they’re here.

What were you doing at a time like this?

He was just calmly baking bread.

I’m alive, somehow.

It’s freshly baked, people. Please have some.

Oh, a new creation?

It looks like regular an-pan though.

Note: “An-pan” is a bread filled with “anko,” a sweet bean paste. Also known as “azuki”.

Delicious!

It’s delicious, better than #54.

I wrapped the azuki you cooked for me in a special bread.

The natural sweetness of the wheat and anko are blending gracefully.

I saw Japan for an instant!

Well of course, the bread I make is Japanese bread, Japan.

Note: “Japan” is a pun, a combination of “Japanese” and “pan,” which means bread.

This is Japan #55!

There’s English bread, German bread, and French bread,

but Japan’s bread, Japan, does not exist.

In that case, there’s no choice but to create it.

This story is a serious, biographical ballad of a boy who possesses Solar Hands,

Azuma Kazuma, who will create a Japanese bread made by and for the Japanese people,

which can be presented to the world proudly.

The boy who possesses Solar Hands!

He has arrived!!

Well, I’ll be going then.

You’re really going away.

Niigata

To become a baker immediately after graduating from middle school...

You’re a curious grandson.

But to think he would be employed by a really famous bakery that competes with the best,

it’s incredible! Yeah!

If you’re sent back with complaints,

I’ll beat you!

O-okay.

Kazuma,

this is from me.

Thank you, Baa-chan.

This really is goodbye... to your warm hands, too.

Time flies, doesn’t it?

It’s been about 10 years since our breakfast became bread.

Yep.

That’s something which happened 10 years ago.

It was back when I, Azuma Kazuma, was only six years old.

Mama.

That’s displeasing, call me Okaa-chan.

Okaa-chan, I’d like some bread for a change.

Don’t utter such foolishness! You’re asking a rice farmer to have bread for breakfast?!

Our family’s the only one still saying that.

At my classmate Manami-chan’s place, they all eat bread with their meals.

Well, they grow wheat there, too.

That isn’t the problem, Baa-chan!

Say, Kazuma, what do you think?

I like the rice we grow here.

Bread is all dried-out, I don’t like it.

Oh?

I’m going to die!

Nee-chan, I’m going to die!

You only say that because you’ve never eaten tasty bread.

I’ll make you try some real bread now, so be prepared!

I’ve fallen, I’ve fallen, Onee-chan!

Oh?

Huh, was there a place like this here?

Come on! Hurry up and stand.

It’s a windmill!

And a reindeer!

It’s like...

a toy store.

Those are all edible.

Because they’re bread.

Good morning, Mister!

Good morning.

This is my little brother, Kazuma.

Welcome, Kazuma-kun.

Y-Yeah.

But I really am surprised...

All of these are made of bread.

Mister,

I’d like this dinner bread.

Thank you for your business.

Kazuma-kun.

This is...

the taste of...

real bread!

Ouch!

That was delicious!

Ouch...

You understand now, right?

The reason why I want our daily food to be bread.

How do you make such tasty bread?

Would you like to watch me make bread?

Really? Is that okay?

Inaho-chan, what about school?

I’m going to be late! Please take care of this kid!

Want to see?

Yeah!

Okay?

Flour and sugar, salt, butter, yeast germ, water,

non-fat milk, and milk all are mixed together.

If starts off sticky,

but after about five minutes, glutin is produced, and it settles.

After kneading it for 12 to 15 minutes,

you round it.

You let this ferment until it expands to many times its size.

What’s “ferment?”

Well, it’s a bit complicated, but...

It’s when microbes such as yeast and bacteria break down organic matter,

producing carbon dioxide, which causes it to expand.

Would you like to try it up to this stage?

Yeah, let’s do it!

Hey, you have strong muscles.

By the way, your Onee-san seems to like bread, but what about you?

Yeah!

I just started liking it.

But I still prefer rice.

You’re a very outspoken boy.

I’m an honest person!

I see, I see. I’m sorry.

To tell you the truth, I’m a rice man, too.

I love rice.

What? But this is a bakery!

Then why did you become a baker?

Well, let’s see...

Rice tastes good to eat, but bread is fun to make.

For Japanese people, I don’t think bread can beat rice as the staple.

But one day, I’d like to create a bread that surpasses rice in taste.

Namely, Japan.

A Japanese bread that can be presented to the world proudly.

To create that is my dream.

Bread that tastes better than rice... Japan.

I want to eat it!

But although I say that...

Before that dream is realized,

this shop may be gone.

I studied a lot of things in France,

and succeeded well as an artisan over there.

But you know,

to make the Japan dream come true,

I had to return to Japan.

Thinking I would make my hometown my destination,

I set up store here, which was fine...

But due to the nature of this locality, my bread won’t sell!

They’re this tasty, but they won’t sell?

Although telling you these things won’t do much good...

Would you like some juice or something...?