Bread in Japan -- Vidals

Just about every day for lunch, myself and my JCMU pals have been frequenting a bakery called Vidals. Vidals is Japan’s saving grace in bread. As most people know, a large percentage of what I eat is bread. As Japan is not really known for having fantastic bread (not that there is bad bread here, Japan is just known for other things), I thought I was in trouble. I mean, unless Azuma Kazuma finally comes out with his famous JAPAN pan, Japanese bread is what I’m going to be living with. That’s ok with me, however, as long as I have Vidals.

Vidals is a small business owned by a local Hikone woman. She bakes a large batch of bread in the morning sells it out the back of her house. Her store opens at 10am and closes when she has sold out of bread. The store isn’t huge; it’s about the size of my bathroom back home, and it’s a rush to get to Vidals before she runs out of bread. All of the classes at JCMU let out at 11:40am and then it’s a mad rush to beat all of the 40 other JCMU students to Vidals. Granted, not everyone goes to Vidals every day, but enough people have discovered it’s secret deliciousness that the race is on. It’s only a 10 minute walk away from the school, but the sooner you get there the better chance you will have of getting some of Vidals’ specialties, such as pizza bread, curry bread, banana muffins, or egg sandwiches. These are only a few examples of her delicious concoctions. In addition to selling pastries she also sells loaves of bread and baguettes.

In addition to baking delicious bread, the woman who owns and runs Vidals is also incredibly nice. Although she must be used to JCMU students buying her out of all of her bread, she still seems highly entertained whenever we come in the door. She always chuckles a little when she sees us. Maybe it’s because we come just about every day that she is open, maybe it’s because we will eat our bread and then come back 10 minutes later to buy more, or maybe it’s because we just buy so much darned bread. Either way, I’m glad she’s entertained because it keeps her making delicious bread!

Eating delicious bread outside of Vidals. Mmmmm... おいしい!!