The building seems to be a bit worn out but you can see that they clean it properly.
Oh, the elementary school is just around the corner so the shopping district here is quite lively
Mariko’s right, I can see an elementary school campus right ahead of us.
That’s why there’s a lot of children accompanied by housewives.
Anyway, let’s go in
We entered the shop.
Then.
Oh, this pastry is cute
Mariko immediately saw an animal face pastry and said.
Nobu, we’re going to pick three each in this shop too?
Kana-senpai is already holding tongs.
Yeah. You can pick three or even four
The price costs the same as other ordinary bakeries.
Starting from 100 yen and the expensive ones cost 300 yen
I want to try this out
Ai took one.
Yomi-oneesama, what do you think? I think this is good
Haiji and Yomi are picking their pastries too.
They were having a hard time picking in the expensive bakery earlier.
It’s because each of them is expensive.
This one has ordinary prices so they pick at ease.
Kou, I want this and this
Nobu, I like this three
I.like this
Yomi-oneesama and I want this
They had their picks in no time.
I also pick some and then buy them all.
Oh, this shop has a good atmosphere that everyone’s smiling.
Onii-san, you’re paying for them all?
The shop employee, a lady in ’40s seem surprised.
Yes, I’ll pay for them all
What’s this, a punishment game?
No, that’s not it
Does it seem weird that the only male is buying the pastries the women picked?
Oh well. Even buying all of this, it’s still cheaper compared to the previous purchases.
Nobu, get some drinks too. I want to drink some milk with this pastry
Kana-senpai points at the drinks in the refrigerator on the cashier.
Oh, they have milk and juice in cartons.
Sure. Just pick whatever you like. I want coffee milk
Okay. Nobu, this one
I hardly drink beverage encased like this but.
Mariko, the young lady, doesn’t drink milk from a carton.
Oh right, Misuzu did mention that they don’t have vending machines in their school.
They only have a milk bar in their cafeteria, it has cups in saucers and black tea.
If you haven’t tried it yet then why don’t you test it now?
Kana-senpai said.
Then, I’ll pick the same as Kou’s
Me too
Haiji said.
Uhm, there’s no drinks like this in other countries
Oh, they have cafe au lait but not coffee milk?
Yomi said.
What’s the difference?
Haiji asks.
Cafe au Lait. puts milk in coffee. but coffee milk. is milk with coffee flavor?
Ai said.
Not just coffee flavored but they also add a lot of sugar
Yomi added.
Well, try it out. It’s much more delicious than ordinary carton milk. I think that when it comes to milk, you only drank the fresh and delicious kind
Kana-senpai said.
Oh well. Let’s buy coffee milk for Kudou-san too
My money was somehow enough for all of it.
I don’t think that this shop accepts cards at all.
I’m glad I brought a lot of cash.
Here you go. Thanks for the purchase, Onii-san
The shop lady told us and we left.
Hmm. This is just an ordinary shop from top to toe.
Oh, it seems that this bakery is in one of the Tokyo delicious bakeries articles. It’s in the 14th spot
Kana-senpai looked at her phone and told us.
They don’t use anything special but the deliciousness never change, or so the article says
Still, picking the 14th ranked, Katsuko-san must’ve wanted to show this to Kou by all means
Mariko looked at me.
Oh, welcome back. Nice, that smells good
Kudou-papa says as we enter the minivan.
Compared to the first bakery, this freshly baked pastry smells great
That’s because the first and second one put each piece into a single plastic bag
I replied.
In this shop, they put everything into small paper bags unless it sticks to it
They make you eat it before it becomes stiff
Well, let’s try it out
Kana-senpai opens the pack inside the car.
Here, coffee milk for you, Kudou-san
I hand over the carton.
Oh, if only I have a red bean paste bread then I would be that lookout in detective dramas
We do have that
I open the paper bag that has the red bean paste bread. I picked this one so it doesn’t matter if I give Kudou-papa this.
Oh, then I’ll take one
Look at this Kou, this turtle-shaped bread is so cute. Its eyes are raisins
Mariko shows me the pastry she picked with a smile.
This is also cute
Haiji also displays the bear-shaped pastry. It has a face drawn in chocolate.
Here, you stretch the straw and stab it here
Kana-senpai teaches Mariko how to drink from the carton.
Oh, that’s interesting
Okay, now let’s eat
I take a bite.
Hmm, this is springy and delicious.
Oh, this is delicious. It has a nostalgic taste
Kana-senpai said.
Oh, this is great with their coffee milk. Delicious
Kudou-papa added.
Really? I don’t think that it’s bad but it’s not that delicious
Mariko said.
I don’t think that they’re using good wheat flour, do they?
Err.
It’s just ordinary.ordinary flour. They don’t use.anything special.for their ingredients
Ai said.
Oh, is that so?
Mariko said.
It’s more than ordinary. It’s much more delicious compared to the supermarket or convenience store bread around this area
Kana-senpai says sullenly.
I don’t eat that ordinary bread so I don’t know. What do you think, Haiji?
Mariko asks Haiji.
It’s a very Japanese taste
Very Japanese
This springy texture of this pastry is what I like about Japan. The taste is also different from the European bakery from earlier
Haiji said.
No, I’m not saying that they’re bad. But, we’re in Japan. Ever since coming to this country, I’ve seen many things from the West arranged to a Japanese style. I thought that the Japanese people just like those kinds of pastry Is it that different?
Kana-senpai’s surprised.
Yes, it is
Haiji nods.
The Japanese people have been eating bread for more than a century now but it seems that the bread eating culture has never really caught on Japan
Kudou-papa said.
The start was during the Meiji era, the military eats it. When it’s rice, you need to cook it first before eating, right? You’ll need fuel too, and once it’s turned into a meal, you have to make it a rice ball and carry it with you. It takes a long time. It freezes over the northern district. But, if it’s bread, then it’s perfect for the troops to carry, see? You can eat it without cooking, and it’s light, and it lasts long I see.
But, that didn’t work out. Japanese people from the past can’t gain energy unless they eat rice, or should I say that It seems like they had an experiment where they created a unit that ate a complete Western diet, eating only bread, but the soldiers went one step closer to a revolt, asking to let us eat rice. At that time, the unit commander’s office bought rice with his own money and cooked rice for the soldiers and that’s when they calmed down They love rice that much?
Mariko asks.
Hmm. Back in those days, they talk about how soldiers get to eat a lot of white rice if you join them. Making them eat bread means that it’s different from what was promised to them. During the Russo-Japanese War, many soldiers died of vitamin-deficient beriberi because they ate white rice all the time. That’s because Mori Ogai, the military physician general, thought beriberi was an epidemic, and there is an opinion that if they had been fed brown rice, then they wouldn’t have had such a bad experience. In fact, if they had fed brown rice to the troops at that time, there would have been a mutiny that would have demanded they be fed white rice Kudou-papa said.