00:04 John Daub: Good morning! Welcome to Kochi Prefecture. This is Kochi City, and I'm standing in front of a very unique bakery. It's called Rin Bell, and Rin Bell is the place where this unique bread only found here in Kochi Prefecture was created. Kind of a melon pan gone wrong. I'll explain a little bit about the history. This is boshi pan (hat bread). It is that hat bread that I wore maybe last year, if you remember a live stream I did here in Kochi. I found this bread that had a rounded top to it, and then it had a rim, which is pretty unique. I'm like, what is this? And then it said Boshi Pan, and boshi in Japanese is hat. So you could kind of wear it.

00:49 John Daub: And this place used to make these gigantic ones where the rim of the hat was just like—I don't know, I'll show you. But we're gonna go inside here. They've given me access to film inside of the bakery and take a look around. Nagano-san is the owner here, and they've actually, unfortunately, finished the production of the boshi pan.

01:10 John Daub: How you doing? Eugene Hobart. Ranjit's here. Carrie. Nice to see everybody. Julie. Andy. Morgan. Alright. It's a good opening. Now this is the mascot to the Boshi Pan. I like it how he seems to be flying with his hat. He's a very happy man. But you can see the shape of the Boshi Pan, and I want you to keep that in mind. He's wearing what I will be eating. So there's a new meaning to the words, "eat your hat." Alright, let's go inside at Rin Bell.

02:03 John Daub: They were already finished with it, but it's pretty cool that we have access to film in here. They don't just make Boshi Pan. They've got curry pan (curry bread). They've got takoyaki pan, which is takoyaki shaped like bread, which is really cool. It's an amazing concept. And we'll try to buy some of these and eat it, of course. This is a vegetable pizza pan. No way. Do you see this? This is a smiley face. Only in Japan. That's a cream pan. I gotta buy one of those for Kanae. Take it back. I like this. This is breakfast pan. They basically put an egg and a slice of bacon on a piece of bread.

02:56 John Daub: Oh, it smells so delightful. You have no idea the smells that are coming through here. I'm sending it your way through Smell-O-Vision. This is meat sauce Danish. Just the ideas are so original. This is like a fluffy dome. This is a melon pan on the top here. It's crunchy. This melon pan, like a cookie top. And this is Boshi Pan. You can see the top of it. It's like a dome and around it, the rim.

03:29 John Daub: I'd like to say it's a castella (sponge cake). It's a kind of bread that came from Europe, but I thought it was like a custard, melted custard, but they said it's castella. So it's actually a melon pan gone wrong. Linda, thank you. I will get some for Kanae and Jeff Ang. You better believe I'm going to take a bunch of it into my suitcase there. We're going straight to the airport after this.

03:53 John Daub: I'm going to get a couple of these, but Nagano-san has given us access to take a look into the bakery and we can see behind the scenes here inside of a Japanese bakery. This is one that's been in operation since the 1950s, which is really interesting. I think at the same location. This one is a whipped cream sandwich. Two things that should go together so beautifully. This is a margarine roll. So health nuts probably might not want to get this, but margarine is creamy. So, yeah, I like this one. This is a bacon epi. It's very stylish and delicious.

04:43 John Daub: Hey, Jennifer French, welcome to a Japanese bakery. Nice to have you aboard. Over here and the tongs and the plates and the trays. This is also when you first enter, you should swish swish with alcohol, which I'll do right now. Clean your hands. And over here we have some other concoctions. This is a wiener dog. Oh, there's a hot dog inside there with all this, but they make it very presentable. That's just a typical hot dog. Oh, this looks so good. This is a sweet chicken dog and they put some karaage (fried chicken). My favorite delicious scrumptious juicy karaage pieces in a sweet savory sauce with I guess it looks like egg salad on there. Nice. There's some yakisoba pan, which is yakisoba noodles inside of bread, which is a smart idea.

06:02 John Daub: I actually think that the mini boshi pan looks maybe the best. Again, the history of this is really interesting. In 1955, they were trying to make melon pan, which is that pan with the crunchy top. And the melon pan kind of went wrong. Somebody forgot to put that sugary cookie stuff on the top of it. And instead it melted around the rim of it. And this mistake created this. Now of course, over the years, they perfected the recipe and eventually they came up with this. This is the best thing about this, which is not just that cookie crunch, but it's got some kind of a cake crunchiness to it, which is really good. And it looks like a hat and that name boshi pan or hat bread did not come from the bakery, but the customers decided that that's what it was going to be called. Now it could also be called the UFO pan, but pan meaning bread in Japanese, but I'm guessing that that might've been taken by something else.

06:58 John Daub: Whoa, this looks so good. Mountain sandwich. This is called a mountain sandwich. Oh, what's that? It's like just cream and chocolate. This is a variety you don't see very much. This is the chocolate boshi pan for those that like brown hats. All right, let's go inside and take a look at the boshi pan or bakery items being made.

07:42 John Daub: Oh, let's go inside of the back of the bakery here. I have the signal. See, strong. But right now they are making some shokupan (sandwich bread), which is loaves of bread. And it's pretty interesting to go around the bakery. Whoa. Loads of bags of flour. That's awesome. And you can see they make everything here in house. Those are the best bakeries. You have no idea how good it smells in here. Just a sweetness, yeast and sugar. Oh, but Japanese bread, Japanese baked items are always very unique. Rather than that hard crunch of a baguette in France, they like the softness of it. Crunchy on the outside and a softness to the center. But sometimes it's a little bit too soft. But I think there's a little bit of everything here in Japanese bakeries, and it's about the variety.

08:53 John Daub: Hey, Ken Rutley's here from Halifax. There's Chiara filming as well. And Wong Jeffex from Toronto. You better believe I'm getting something delicious for tonight. I'm in the oven. Hello, meat pie. What is that? Oh, it smells so good.

09:36 John Daub: Oh, it's nice. You're mixing something. Look at that massive industrial mixer. Oh, oh, this is the top of the Boshi Pan. Interesting. So it is like a custard. It is like that's the top of the Boshi Pan, the rim. Oh, sugar, flour, and egg. Sugar, flour, and egg. Cha, cha, cha. Oh, I'm so excited. So they're going to be making some Boshi Pan really, really soon. Look at them over there. They're working really hard, oiling up the trays. This is the morning, just getting set. Now, in Japan, bakeries typically don't open until, I don't know why, but until like 10 AM. This one opens more on normal bakery time, which is morning. Whoa, he's putting in the massive bags of yeast. Where's the flour? Flour. Boshi Pan. Boshi Pan.

11:20 John Daub: That's reek! That's awesome! All right, some people are saying that there's a lag, sorry. All right, I'll be back inside of there for a second. I saw that on the inside of the kitchen, there might be a kind of a lag in there. But Chiara's in there taking some 4K video of it and I'll see if I can upload some of that. Going to try to refresh your screen now, back outside from inside of that lag. Locker but you could really smell the bread there so what I'm going to do right now is go and get a boshi pan to try for you so let's try one here I'm going to go for the mini boshi pan.

13:19 John Daub: So I thought since I took you in there to take a look a little bit about the boshi pan inside the kitchen, I don't know how the signal was in there we'll film this a little bit later in 4K. We get black screen oh no welcome back we had the black screen I'm not quite sure why hope it back again but I have bought one of these Boshi Pan here. You can see the rim of it is this really kind of slightly chewy but a little bit crunchy kind of custard flavored castella cake and on the top you have what is considered the top part of the hat. I'm examining this like a scientist would looking and turning it in my hand but can this replace a hat now I've heard there's a legend that this bakery has created hat bread where the rim was this big where they just completely went crazy with the rim I would like to come back and see that oh this one's got a thicker rim to it this is interesting.

15:17 John Daub: See it's sweet it's got a really check it out it does look like a cookie this one here this is different. What makes this really good is the consistency there's two they're totally different this is kind of like the melon pan without that crunchiness. This is just like it's like a cookie cake oh I discovered inside there's some sort of filling it's interesting. [inaudible] there's some sort of filling it's very interesting here that is and this is even closer because it has different types and different shapes and tastes right and this one's more so crunchy and this is just like like a cookie cake.

17:10 John Daub: Some unusual breads there. Brendan Walker's here. Time for some dapper pastry hats. I'm gonna go back into the kitchen but I might have to film this in 4K and just upload this later because the signal inside of the kitchen is not very good. I tried to go in there earlier and it was not ideal. I will totally Wong. I'm getting some stuff for Kanae. You better believe it. Ramsay Salad. How you doing Tim? Flowers for someone we all know but I was never here. Linda and Jeff and Eugene much appreciated. Alright guys I'm gonna finish this up. I'm gonna I don't know should I buy some more items? Oh it's on. Red bean paste. What a morning. Happiness. That is pure happiness.

19:14 John Daub: I'll take you in one more time to take a look at some of the baked items but it's very hard to go inside the kitchen because the signal dies out. I do like the rim and they told me that you could actually just buy the rim. I'm down for that. Cheryl NP writes I love your passion for the hat bread. So at this time if you want to write in where you're from if you've never chatted before or given me a message feel free to do an easy one. Where you watching from?

20:44 John Daub: So what a couple more items here. I'm very curious about this takoyaki pan and for those that do like kare pan they do have that here too. Right there and someone looks like it's just been baked. Oh this one says it's also quite spicy but the curry donuts are amazing. The goma donuts you see that? They're also quite good and usually they got like a mochi mochi and a crunchiness to it and then the chocolate whipped donuts which could be like a Boston cream pie except without the cream more like a whip but I will be bringing back one of these smiley faces for Kanae. They just you have to bring back a smile from Kochi. Yeah American bakeries are pretty good too but they're not it's not part of the culture too as much as it is here in Japan I guess this is something we kind of ripped off from France and made it. We Japanified it. This is an ichigo strawberry jam Danish. And everything is in plastic wrap because of the times that we live in.

22:12 John Daub: So there you go, this is the bakery here. I'm going to get some videos in 4K and sort of film them making the Boshi Pan. But again, this is a bread that they created in 1955 by mistake. It was supposed to be a melon pan and it didn't make it. They kind of melted around the sides and over the years they perfected the recipe and it is only in Kochi. I hope that they make the ones with the massive rims that look like a hat. When they do, I'll be back. But the history of the Boshi Pan lives on strong in this bakery.

23:09 John Daub: Ah that was good. Any questions? Today I'm going to be returning back to Tokyo on an ANA flight in about an hour. I'm going to be back in about an hour and a half from now. You don't have to check into your flight until 45 minutes before which is crazy right? But even in this time, the efficiency of Japan to get you from check-in all the way to the gate is incredible. Security, I've never waited more than 10 minutes. Just think about that. And you can bring on liquid water bottles through security for domestic flights in Japan. I don't know how they do it. Just it's incredible to me.

23:39 John Daub: So to sum this up here, put a little ribbon on everything. This is the bakery in Kochi. This is the bakery. It's been here since the 1950s I believe. It might have moved locations but uh or might have moved buildings. But Rin Bell is the founder of the Boshi Pan and that could be me holding the baguettes and coffee one day. Could be you too if you come here and enjoy a Boshi Pan. Beautiful streets of Kochi and Johnny's another Boshi Pan. Any questions? I'm here for you!

24:23 John Daub: Did you all watch the uh Buddha sunglasses video on the new Only in Japan main channel? That was a really good video. That took me that took a long time to edit that one up. Make it nice and perfect. I'm probably gonna buy some of the takoyaki bread and some of that the smiley cream pan and then get some video right now of them baking it and I'll try to make it into a Japanese bakery episode but this is an important part of the Japanese bakery experience I believe. You gotta get some Boshi Pan in there right? There's some history to it. So Boshi Pan I'm gonna be filming that for a bakery episode which will probably be coming sometime in early 2021. So Rin Bell Bakery deserves a shout out.

25:21 John Daub: Thanks guys so much for watching me eat some Boshi Pan and if you do come to Kochi or you come to Shikoku or you go to Marugoto Kochi in the store in Ginza you'll be able to find Boshi Pan in Ginza. At that's at the Marugoto Kochi the Kochi store that I was live streaming in about a month ago but it all comes from here and this is the famous Boshi Pan of Kochi. Actually they have a sign for it. How awesome is that? Have a good day everybody. Have a good night. I will see you all uh probably later tonight.

25:54 John Daub: Last night I filmed an episode because I've been uploading so many videos onto the channel I didn't want to upload the last night walking in an old house. So I'm going to see if I can edit that up a little bit and make it a strobe and release it maybe tonight or tomorrow night. Kind of a Halloween feeling to it. A little bit spooky. Something happened inside there that might have done it. It's an old Edo period uh end of like early Meiji period house. So uh that's where we stayed. Raymond Centeno you got it buddy. I'll get a trust me. Kanae is going to have a basket of bread from Kochi. Absolutely. And RJ welcome new traveler. Thanks guys for signing up.

26:38 John Daub: I like to see everybody from all around the world. A lot of Canadians here. It's awesome. Alright folks have a good day. Have a good night. See you later from Kochi prefecture. I really enjoyed my time here and I'm coming back here in December to finish off an episode that I started to film while I was here. Bye bye from Rin Bell. Land of Boshi Pan. Yum yum.