Even though it didn’t cause us to swap bodies, it was every bit as creamy and tasty as we imagined it to be.

Director Makoto Shinkai spared no effort in making the fictional rural town of Itomori in anime Your Name as realistic as possible. Several landmarks were inspired by real-life locations, and even the food accurately reflected, well, actual food.

Given that Itomori’s lake was based on Nagano Prefecture’s Lake Suwa, it made sense to incorporate food from that region into the movie. One such food item was the milk bread featured in the scene where female protagonist Mitsuha had a quick lunch with close friend Teshigawara.

▼ See that bread held in Tehigawara’s left hand?
That’s Nagano’s famous milk bread right there.

Mariko, one of our Japanese-language reporters, went out of her way to buy a loaf recently, so she could experience what Teshigawara must have felt that day.

▼ While it looked quite different from the one in the anime, it’s real milk bread nonetheless!

A bread’s personality is far more important than its appearance, and Mariko just might be the perfect candidate to confirm that theory. After all, she and Makoto Shinkai were both born in Nagano Prefecture.

▼ And it cost just 150 yen (US$1.33) for a thing this huge.

Unwrapping the fluffy loaf before plopping it down in a presentable manner, Mariko couldn’t believe something that substantial could cost only 150 yen. She took a tentative bite, and was surprised that its smooth butter notes combined perfectly with the mellow sweetness of the bread and white cream. Absolutely delicious!

▼ Mariko found much delight in crunching the granules of sugar buried in the cream, and there was so much yummy bread that she could only finish half of it.

▼ Plot twist: Mariko had never tasted milk bread in her life until now. Looks like she regretted not trying it out during her younger years.

For something so delicious yet affordable, we can now understand why milk bread’s the favorite snack in Your Name. Seeing how Makoto Shinkai cleverly hid the identity of Miki Okudera’s husband with obscure clues, munching on milk bread could very well be one of the director’s cherished childhood memories.

Photos © SoraNews24
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