English

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Etymology

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From Japanese あんパン (anpan), from あん (an, bean jam) + パン (pan, bread, pastry).

Noun

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anpan (countable and uncountable, plural anpan or anpans)

  1. A Japanese sweet roll most commonly filled with red bean paste.
    • 1992, 91st Annual Meeting, San Francisco, California, American Anthropological Association, →ISBN, page 40:
      Anpanman, a male hero whose head is composed of anpan—a doughy snack filled with sweet bean paste, is the central character in a children’s book (/cartoon/comic/toy) series in Japan.
    • 1999, Jeffry Thomas Hester, Place-Making and the Cultural Politics of Belonging in a Mixed Korean/Japanese Locale of Osaka, Japan, University of California, Berkeley, page 187:
      Japanization of practice is reflected in the food used, such as the bread and anpan buns as a substitute for Korean rice cakes.
    • 2000, Rena Krasno, Floating Lanterns and Golden Shrines: Celebrating Japanese Festivals, Pacific View Press, →ISBN, page 46:
      At once, Tanuki changed himself into a little girl holding a plate with four anpan (buns filled with red bean paste)—the Tengu’s favorite food. As soon as the three Tengu saw the anpan, they rushed up to grab them.
    • 2005, Satomi Ikezawa, translated by William Flanagan, Othello, volume 3, New York, N.Y.: Del Rey Books, →ISBN:
      For those familiar with the anime “Anpanman,” the title character is so named because his head is the shape of an anpan bun.
    • 2016, Machiko Kusahara, “Proto-Media Art: Revisiting Japanese Postwar Avant-garde Art”, in Christiane Paul, editor, A Companion to Digital Art, Wiley-Blackwell, →ISBN, part I (Histories of Digital Art), page 116:
      Anpan was a huge success and the bakery was immediately commissioned to serve the emperor’s court, which made their reputation solid. It is believed that the invention of anpan made a substantial contribution to bringing bread onto Japanese tables.
    • 2017, Petos, translated by Kevin Steinbach, Interviews with Monster Girls, volume 5, Kodansha Comics, →ISBN:
      Anpan is a sweet bread filled with red bean paste (it’s what Kurtz pictures on the first page of this story). An extremely widespread snack, one of Japan’s most popular cartoon characters is Anpan Man, a superhero whose head is an anpan bun.
    • 2018, Peter Tieryas, Mecha Samurai Empire, New York, N.Y.: Ace, →ISBN:
      Griselda returns, holding a bag full of wasabi peas and anpans. She knows I like the ones filled with custard rather than red bean, so I’m grateful she got my favorites.
    • 2019, Clay Boutwell, Yumi Boutwell, Japanese Reading for JLPT N5, Kotoba Inc, →ISBN:
      He bought two anpans.
    • 2020, Six Pommes, How to Draw Almost Everything: An Illustrated Sourcebook, volume 2, Quarry Books, The Quarto Group, →ISBN, page 125:
      ANPAN (BREAD WITH BEAN PASTE) / Anpan is often sold wrapped in plastic. Draw a slice of anpan to show the red bean paste filling.
    • 2020, Shauna Holyoak, Kazu Jones and the Comic Book Criminal, Little, Brown and Company, →ISBN:
      Anpan was a sweet Japanese bun filled with anko, a yummy red-bean paste. Every time Mom took me to Tokyo Premium Bakery, I ordered one anpan to eat there, and one melon pan for later. / “Are you kidding?” I said, hope floating in my chest like a balloon. “Anpan is delicious!” [] My tongue tickled at the idea of some fresh, warm anpan, but I knew I had to keep working on my mission. “Mom loves anpan,” I said, and it wasn’t even a lie. “Can I take her some, too?”
    • 2020, Sumito Oowara, translated by Kumar Sivasubramanian, Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!, volume 1, Dark Horse Comics, →ISBN, page 113, column 2:
      Although the taste of anpan is nothing like peanut butter, the two styles are sometimes compared to the smooth-vs.-chunky debate.
    • 2020, Hikaru Nakamura, translated by Alethea Nibley and Athena Nibley, Saint Young Men, volume 5, Kodansha Comics, →ISBN:
      Anpanman is a Japanese superhero who has a head made of anpan—bread (pan) filled with sweet red bean paste (anko).
    • 2021, D. B. Goodin, Echoes of Silence (Cyber Hunter Origins; 2), →ISBN:
      A young Misato brought her an anpan, her favorite pastry.
    • 2021, Nikki Asada, translated by Emily Yamada, The Springtime of My Life Began with You, volume 4, Kodansha, →ISBN:
      FAVORITE FOOD / ANPAN / *ANPAN ARE SWEET BEAN BUNS.
    • 2022, EDA, translated by Gwendolyn Warner, Cooking with Wild Game, volume 19, J-Novel Club, →ISBN:
      My clearest memory involved plush toys from a certain TV series starring a character with an anpan for a head.
    • 2022 November 2, Bryan Washington, “Pecan Tarts: A Love Story”, in The New York Times[1], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2022-11-02:
      On my end, pastry has always been synonymous with pleasure: Once, a boyfriend in Austin insisted that his sister’s pan dulce could cure any heartache, and for a few bites of deliciousness, this was pretty much true. I’ve been healed by anpan eaten from Shimokitazawa’s just-opened bakeries, after nights spent at gay bars, because these were the first blessings we ran into.
    • 2023, FUNA, translated by Stephen Paul, Saving 80,000 Gold in Another World for My Retirement, volume 3, Kodansha, →ISBN:
      A package of five anpan, 148 yen.

Further reading

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Japanese

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Romanization

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anpan

  1. Rōmaji transcription of あんパン