Japanese at a Bakery: Trays, Tongs, Melon Pan and Shokupan

The tray and tongs system

Near the entrance of most bakeries you will find a stack of trays, torei, and a holder of tongs, tongu. Take one of each before you start browsing. The bread sits on open shelves, and you pick items up with the tongs and place them on your tray. Pre-packed items such as sandwiches or sliced loaves can be picked up by hand, since they are already wrapped.

A few habits mark you as a considerate customer. Do not touch unwrapped bread with your fingers, even to test how soft it is. Try to decide before you pick something up, because putting bread back after it has been handled is generally frowned upon. Clicking the tongs together while you browse is a small thing that many Japanese people find mildly irritating, so keep them quiet.

When your tray is full, bring it to the reji, the register. Staff will count the items, wrap or bag each one, and hand you the bag. If there is a queue, it usually forms along a marked line, so look for a sign that says o-narabi kudasai, please queue here.

Asking what is inside

Japanese bakeries love fillings, and a plain-looking bun can hold custard, red bean paste, curry, cheese or a whole sausage. Labels often list the main filling, but if you cannot read it or want details, the standard question is naka ni nani ga haitte imasu ka, what is inside it?

You may also hear -iri, meaning containing, on labels and in answers: an-iri is with red bean paste, chīzu-iri is with cheese. If you have allergies, arerugī, bakeries often list the major allergens on the label or on a sheet at the till, and staff can check for you. Be aware that shared equipment means they may not be able to guarantee anything.

Signs and labels on the shelves

Every bread has a small card, puraisu kādo, with its name and price, and the busiest bakeries add signs about freshness and limited items. These words turn up again and again, so they are worth learning to read.

Whether the price card shows tax included or not varies by shop, so the total at the till can be a little higher than the numbers you added up. If a favourite is urikire, ask tsugi wa nanji ni yakiagarimasu ka, when is the next batch ready?

Bread names every visitor should know

Japanese bakery bread, often called kashi-pan for sweet buns and sōzai-pan for savoury ones, has its own classics. Names are almost always in katakana, and many combine pan with a filling. Melon pan is a sweet bun with a crisp cookie crust; kare pan is curry wrapped in dough, crumbed and usually deep-fried; an-pan holds sweet red bean paste.

Savoury favourites include yakisoba pan, a hot-dog roll stuffed with fried noodles, and korokke pan, a roll with a croquette. Shio pan, a buttery salted roll, has become a staple in many bakeries. Regional breads are common too, so it is always worth asking what the local speciality is.

Buying shokupan and asking for slicing

Shokupan, the soft, fluffy white loaf, is sold by the loaf rather than by weight. The traditional unit is the kin: ikkin is one loaf, hankin is half, and nikin is a double-length loaf. Some specialist shokupan shops sell nothing else and may ask you to reserve in advance for popular loaves.

Slicing is described by the number of slices per loaf with -mai-giri. Rokumai-giri, six slices, is a common everyday thickness; yonmai-giri and gomai-giri give thick toast slices; hachimai-giri gives thin sandwich slices. Not every bakery slices loaves, and some sell only pre-sliced bags, so check before you rely on it.

Questions you hear at the till

The register is where most of the Japanese happens, and the questions come quickly. The first is often tennai de o-meshiagari desu ka, will you be eating in? The honorific o-meshiagari can sound intimidating, but you only need to answer tennai de or mochikaeri de.

Some bakeries offer to warm certain items, especially kare pan and savoury breads, with atatamemasu ka. You may be asked whether you need a bag, fukuro, since plastic bags are generally charged for in Japan, and whether to wrap items separately, betsu ni. Finally, you may be asked about a point card, pointo kādo. A simple daijōbu desu politely declines any of these.

When you pay in cash, you will usually see a small tray, karuton, on the counter. Put your money in the tray rather than handing it over, and your change will come back the same way.

Eating in and taking bread home

Bakeries with eat-in seating often have a coffee menu and sometimes free water or tea. If you ordered a drink, you may be given a number or asked to wait at the counter. Tidy your tray away when you leave, following any sign that says o-sage kudasai or henkyaku-guchi, return point.

If you are taking bread home, especially items with cream or custard, staff may ask how long it will take you to get home and add a cold pack, horeizai. Filled breads are best eaten the same day, and many shops mark this with a note such as honjitsu-chū ni o-meshiagari kudasai, please eat today.

When something goes wrong

Accidents happen, particularly with soft bread and small tongs. If you drop something on the floor, do not put it back on the shelf; tell the staff, and offer to pay for it. Most shops will simply thank you for saying so.

If you notice at home that something is missing from your bag or that you were charged for the wrong item, keep the receipt, reshīto, and go back with it. A calm explanation is all that is needed.