Got Milk Bread?

Supremely soft loaves from Japan redeem a childhood staple

- Kate Krader

For anyone raised on the packaged white bread that lies around on America’s supermarket shelves for unspecified amounts of time, the concept of Japanese milk bread is both a dream and an affront. Known as shokupan, Japan’s standard alabaster loaf resembles its U.S. counterpart in generally being long and cut into square slices. After that, the similarity ends.