“Ochazuke was always the last part of the meals we ate with our grandmother; my obachama didn’t like seeing any grains go to waste,” Sakai writes. Miso soup delivers simple, ...

Anpanman was the main character in a picture book series by Japanese cartoonist Takashi Yanase. The series was turned into an animated cartoon series and has been airing on Japan’s NTV since 1988.

Anpanman was created by illustrator Takashi Yanase, who passed away in 2013 at age 94, and first appeared in the “Kinder Story” monthly magazine for kindergarteners in 1973.