This is the day in life of a Japanese panko factory owner.
[Music]
This is Sho, 43 years old, living in Tokyo.
He wakes up earlier than most Japanese
to start his work day.
He lives with his wife and two daughters
in this two-story house
but sleeps in a separate bedroom so not
to wake them up in the morning.
Sho and his wife both work full time so
he shares the house chores like doing the dishes.
[Music]
Damn, you have a lot of records!
How many do you have?
Which one is your favorite?
Wow! The lyrics are screen printed on the fabric.
He says this DIY spirit is the
same spirit he tries to capture when
creating his panko.
[Music]
Do you always eat bread in the morning?
Oh! He's working already!
Being a father and a business owner himself,
it's important for him to wake up early to
maximize his day
reading, stretching and organizing his daily tasks.
Interesting! His house has an attic.
Looks like he's preparing rain boots
for his daughter.
[Music]
Sho's office is only a 10-minute walk
from his house. Pretty rare in japan.
Every morning on his commute, he stops by the Inari shrine.
This particular one is called
Bouka Inari, which is believed to
protect its visitors from fires.
Quite important for someone who runs his
own factory.
Good morning everyone!
I'm back with another day in the life.
This one I'm super excited for because
we're going into a Japanese factory.
Sho should be coming around the corner
just now. Let's see how his morning is.
Good morning!
Did you sleep?
Sho is a third generation owner of the
Nakaya Panko factory.
A family run business
started in 1948 by his grandfather.
It's only truly made in tokyo panko factory
baking their own bread to create a flaky
breadcrumb commonly used as a crunchy
coating in fried Japanese food.
Their panko is so highly acclaimed
it's used by 60%
of the tonkatsu restaurants listed in
Japan's Michelin guide, as well as chains
like Gyutan Negishi
and even mom & pop stores.
Many in the industry believe that panko alone
will make the restaurant popular.
Right after he arrives he starts to organize
today's orders since clients
place their orders overnight in many different ways.
Online, phone call messages,
emails, line messenger, SMS and even fax.
It's amazing how flexible he is with
his customers and shows how committed
he is to customer service.
Did you originally want to inherit the business?
He would even sit in the truck with
his dad during deliveries!
The panko factory was such a large part of his life
when he was a kid he drew a layout of it,
which still hangs in the office today.
And that's his brother! He's the "kojocho," aka factory manager.
After he finalizes todays orders, he assigns delivery drivers.
Drivers locate the products on the shelves and refrigerators and load their trucks accordingly.
This machine prints out the "denpyo," in English, an itemized sales slip, which is given to customers at the time of delivery.
In Japan, many businesses are still paper-based so this form of receipt is absolutely necessary.
Now, Sho prepares cash for delivery. Even these days, many of his clients still prefer to pay in cash, so all of his delivery drivers must carry enough to make change.
Wow, that looks so old! Are you still using this?
Ah, a "kamon!" A Japanese family crest passed down from his ancestors!
Now, the morning workers are lining up to stamp their time cards, a very common practice in traditional Japanese companies.
While they're doing that, Sho works on organizing stock in the factory.
As the owner of the its important for him to be involved in all aspects of the business, large or small.
He even makes time to clean toilets, despite daily cleanings by staff.
Some Japanese believe that the active cleansing of toilets also cleanses one's malevolence, so you'll find many successful business owners participating in this activity.
What did you do before becoming a panko factory owner?
Now, Sho goes back to his office tasks, replying to emails and texts, as well as other administrative work.
So it looks like Sho has a little bit more office work to do, so while he's doing that, lets take advantage of this time and explore this place!
So let's go up to the second floor, and let me show you where all the magic happens.
But in order to do that, I'm gonna need a change. So let's do that right now!
Alright! Good to go. Let's go do this!
Now that I'm all suited up, let me show you how the bread making process begins.
150 years ago from the Meiji period, Japanese used sliced bread to make panko.
A Japanese word, "pan" meaning "bread," and "ko" meaning "powder."
Many panko producers use commercially made bread, but Nakaya panko will craft their own bread at their factory.
Creating 50 different types of panko every year with their own unique textures and flavors.
The first step is to make the dough. Workers mix water yeast and flour, then add salt and sugar, and then knead the mixture.
After that, they add oil and knead it again.
Interestingly, depending on the weather that day, the workers adjust how long the dough is fermented, as well as the amount of yeast added
in order to produce an identical product.
Also, since flower producers update their harvest each year, the factory needs to readjust their ingredients and process each time.
It's very much an art of its own to craft a consistent and high quality panko each and every day.
This machine receives the kneaded dough and separates it into smaller clumps.
And then the dough rests here for about 15 to 20 minutes.
After it cycles through it then drops down this chute to be flattened.
Finally, the dough is rolled and placed in the metal pans by hand.
[Music]
Now, the dough needs to sit in a fermentation room, which is set to 90 percent humidity.
I guess my camera's not going in there!
After this, the baking process begins.
How long does it take to bake this bread?
The factory produces 1800 loads of bread per day.
And the loaves vary in texture and shape, depending on the end product
For this particular cycle, before the bread gets shredded into small pieces of panko the workers must remove the crust by using an automatic slicer.
[Music]
The bread itself doesn't come out of the oven in perfect form, so usually there will be crusted sections like this, so workers remove these spots by hand.
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Now that all the crust has been removed, the bread is processed through this specialized machine.
It shreds the bread into smaller pieces, which are passed through these metal nets.
The holes in the nets vary in size, which ultimately determines the size of the panko.
[Music]
Apparently, they use about 1.3 tons of flour to make 800 kilograms, or about 1760 pounds of panko each day.
[Music]
So they not only sell panko here, but they also provide an assortment of ingredients so when a customer comes, they can buy panko as well as cooking ingredients.
It's kind of like a one-stop-shop.
Pretty convinient!
Alright, just over there, looks like they have some deliveries, so let's go check it out.
The factory ensures that the crust doesn't go to waste, and donates it to used as food to raise pigs and chicken.
[Music]
Oh! They're having "Chorei" A typical Japanese meeting held every morning before work starts.
In this meeting the factory staff review tasks for the day, as well as any issues that need to be addressed.
Now, Sho goes around the factory floor in order to perform a quality inspection.
It's important for him to talk directly with the workers to get feedback on the condition of the bread.
Sho, can I make panko today?
So check it out y'all! They actually let me make my own panko.
So you gotta break it up like this.
That's awesome!
Wow! I made the perfect panko!
What's that?
So what's next?
Do you have a visit every day?
They even have students once a year!
Today, chefs from an Italian restaurant are visiting to learn about Sho's panko.
Oh, they brought "temiyage," which is a gift to say thank you!
In Japanese business culture, it's customary to give such a gift when someone is doing something for you.
That's one of his latest creations, "God Speed You Black Panko!"
[Music]
During the factory visit, Sho's brother details how the panko is produced, explains the different types, as well as shares tips on how to use it during cooking.
Now its time for the tasting.
What is your favrorite food?
Are you going somewhere?
[Music]
Do you always have to eat lunch in the truck?
Panko is a food that you don't just itself, but is combined with other ingredients to produce an end product like katsu or fried fish.
So Sho works diligently to understand his customers needs in order to produce the highest quality product possible.
To do this, it's critical for him to often meet with customers to see how his panko is being served.
The first stop is in the high-end area of Nishiazabu.
The next stop is a wood-fired oven wagyu steak restaurant, Forno, in Nishiazabu.
What are you doing now?
Not only does he deliver orders, but he also provides private instructions at the customer's request.
He knows his panko better than anyone so he's able to share detailed preparation methods to chefs from high-end restaurants, to mom and pop tonkatsu shops
in order to bring out the full potential of his panko's taste and texture.
During the instruction, they use his ichiko mix which is a blended powder to coat food before dipping it into the egg.
As well as special techniques on how to produce a crispier and ultra textured menchi crust.
Wow! That looks so crispy!
You can even see that the panko with added technique produces a unique, spiky, stalagmite-like crust.
Now back at the office he needs to refocus on sales.
Wow, it seems like he missed many calls while he was out.
After finishing his sales tasks, he has a strategy meeting with his brother about new business opportunities.
Apparently, they started an anti-microbial and anti-virus coding service for restaurants as well.
Yay! Finally finished!
Oh! Is it for the dust?
[Music]
Aww, so cute! His girls sure miss daddy!
He usually can't make it home on time to have dinner with his family, so he has dinner alone.
But that karaage his wife made sure looks good though, and it looks like his girls love to share daddy's meal.
So after dinner, Sho will probably go and hang out with his family, take a bath, play with his daughters, and probably then just go to sleep at 11 30.
So that's pretty much the day in life of a Japanese panko factory owner
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