Buy the hop-fermented loaf from the bakery that gave Japan shokupan
Same loaf, same street, since 1888
Uchiki Pan was founded in Motomachi in 1888 by Utsugi Hikotaro, an apprentice who took over the Englishman Robert Clarke's Yokohama Bakery. It is still trading on the same street.
Why it's unique
This is where Japan's first Western-style white loaf was baked. Sources variously call it the first shokupan, the first English loaf or the oldest surviving bakery; the safe statement is the first Western-style white loaf.
The historical object is edible. The England, a domed English tin loaf, is still raised on a hop-derived starter rather than commercial yeast, and has been made continuously since 1888. Buying it is the whole experience, and you cannot buy it anywhere else.
Before you go
Order the England, 450 yen. There are 120-odd other lines, but the England is the historical one and the one that sells out.
It is cash only and there is no seating, so buy and walk it up to Motomachi Park or the Bluff.