Name: Day in the Life of a Japanese Bread Baker
Uploaded: 2025-08-15T18:02:01.000Z
Duration: 16 min 31 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

This is a day in the life of a Japanese baker

Present continuous

This is Zarina, 31 years old, a mother of two living in the outskirts of Tokyo in a 3LDK apartment, and she's just waking up for work.

That's Reito, her 2 year old son, and that's Emma, her 4 year old daughter.

Her husband left early for work, so it's just her and the kids this morning, which is typical for this Japanese family.

First she makes breakfast for her kids, working quickly as she has a busy day ahead of her.

Oh, she's making onigiri rice balls this morning, a fairly common breakfast for Japanese kids.

Oh, it's like breakfast in bed, but on the floor.

Apparently the kids prefer this over sitting at the dining table.

While the kids are eating, she prepares an onigiri for her husband for when he comes back home for his lunch break.

In Japan, most nurseries these days use a logging app, which requires parents to enter their kids' info such as their temperature, what they ate for dinner and breakfast, and how much they slept.

Oh, she's taking her kids to school in a mamachari, meaning mama's bicycle.

In Japan, it's common to see two child seats attached to a mamachari like this, one in front and the other in the back.

Many people in Tokyo don't own a car, and even if they do, this is still a more popular mode of transportation for parents to send their kids to nursery, even more so these days since the newer ones have electric pedal assist.

Hopefully, Adi and I had no problem getting the kids ready this morning, and I think she should be on her bike coming shortly.

And this is her bakery, Aripan, named after her.

She opened the shop five years ago, Hirinjin Koiwa, together with her mom, and it's quickly become a popular spot among locals.

On the busiest time, selling about 800 bread in a day.

As soon as Arina arrives, she jumps into the kitchen to start baking, usually taking care of pre-orders and then taking over whatever her mom was baking.

So, that's a bit later than typical Japanese bakeries.

Interestingly, in Japan, 51% of bakeries start working between 3 to 6 a.m., and 27% start as early as 1 to 3 a.m. in order to get the shops ready before opening.

Apparently, when Arina's bakery first opened, it was only her and her mom, and Arina had just given birth.

So that the two weren't too overwhelmed by long work hours, but still could pursue their baking passion, they decided to start from 7 a.m.

Nice, she's making Kuripan, one of my favorites.

Japanese bakers are known for their unique variety of bread products, quite different to their Western counterparts, with items such as melonpan, anpan, and all kinds of sozai breads.

And although rice is a Japanese staple, bread gained popularity during the Meiji period, and in less than two centuries, it's become even more popular than rice.

Interestingly, recent studies show that the monthly expense of a Japanese household for rice is about ¥15,000, while bread is about ¥21,000.

Since Arina is a head baker, she works on multiple items all at the same time, while also overseeing and directing the other workers.

It's her responsibility to ensure that the shop bakes the highest quality bread consistently each and every day.

So is there anything you pay close attention to?

Not just the taste, but also the communication with the customers, so that they feel like they made the right decision to buy the bread.

Of course, it's important to make delicious breads.

Growing up, she's always had a passion for cooking, so much so that she enrolled in a specialized food nutrition school, focusing on cafe business, as she eventually wanted to start her own restaurant or food-related shop.

During her study, she recognized her love for baking, which motivated her to take the next step, and get hired at a bakery to gain experience.

At 10am, the bakery finally opens, filling the neighborhood with an aroma of their fresh baked goods.

In Japan, food safety is paramount to showcasing and serving delectable breads, and with Japanese customers equally conscious about cleanliness, it's almost culturally mandatory for breads to be individually wrapped, assuring customers that each piece of bread has been properly handled and no one else has touched it.

As their customers purchase their hot, out-of-the-oven breads, the kitchen must keep pace with the day's demands.

Now she makes her signature shokupan, the bakery's best-seller.

So shokupan is a Japanese milk bread, popular for its milky-sweet taste, undeniable moistness, and pillowy cotton candy-like softness, often served as breakfast toast or sandwich bread.

Different than traditional white bread, it has a rich, flavorful experience.

In Japan, high-end shokupan is quite popular these days, and costs can range between $7 to $20, and despite the price, it's still regularly sold out.

It looks like Arina is going to be doing her thing over here for just a little bit longer, so while she's doing that, let's see what's cooking up around this place!

So, do you like working with your daughter?

Now, she has to make a quick run to the local vegetable shop, and she's literally running!

As a head baker, she says that her time is limited every day, so she's often running and working quickly to make the best use of her time.

On her way to lunch, she makes a quick stop at a nearby organic cafe to drop off a delivery.

It's common practice in Japan for local cafes and restaurants to partner with bakeries to offer their baked goods.

Around 11am, she finally takes a lunch break, but often skips it when the bakery is busy.

Luckily, she lives close by, so she can take her lunch at home.

While at home, she not only eats, but also does the house chores like dishes and the laundry that she couldn't finish in the morning.

I guess she's having a peanut butter sandwich, a fruit, and a latte today.

Before she eats, she quickly updates her bakery's Instagram.

It's actually quite common for Japanese restaurants and food businesses to hold such events to build their community of customers by creating seasonal products and unique collaboration items.

I'm going to go back and make more bread tomorrow.

From now until 5pm, she needs to work diligently, working non-stop along with other workers to bake enough bread for the afternoon and evening rushes.

While she works on the dough, one of her workers makes the bakery's special custard cream.

Ah, it needs to have a thicker consistency, so it won't leak out of the bread.

Since the bakery creates over 60 types of baked goods, some with their own unique fillings, it's critical for Arina to check and gauge the consistency of the cream.

Oh, that's a Yudani baking method which originated in Japan.

Instead of being cooked, the flour is mixed with boiling liquid, then left to cool down before use, which gelatinizes the starch in the flour, resulting in a more tender bread which stays softer for longer.

By the way, what are you thinking about when you're doing that?

Subtitles ListPlay Video

Day in the Life of a Japanese Bread Baker

apparently

properly

routine

experience