List of Yakitate!! Japan Characters - Main Characters

Main Characters

Kazuma Azuma (東 和馬, Azuma Kazuma?)

• Voiced by: Yumiko Kobayashi

Blood Type: B

A male 16-year-old bread artisan who dreams of making the perfect Japan. Initially, he doesn't seem very bright, but when it comes to bread he's a genius (He is knowledgeable about rice because of his grandfather, and Japanese food in general due to further learning and dealing with Japanese restaurants.). Although only experienced in making Japan he had intuitively discovered established baking styles and methods in making various types of breads in his pursuit to make the perfect Japan; even if he is unfamiliar with their actual names. Azuma also has solar hands, exceptionally warm hands that allow the yeast to ferment faster and better when he is making his bread. Eternally optimistic and cheerful, he never gets upset from challenges faced in baking competitions, but rather from emotional tragedies. He gets his inspirations for his Japan from random sources, like other Japanese foods and stories from his experienced but over talkative grandfather, a rice farmer. Unexpectedly great at math when he solved a complicated math problem in his head in less than a minute that took Pierrot hours to conceive that was written out in the sand. He is also hinted to have a slight crush on Tsukino, and vice versa, but it is not stated explicitly in the series.

Tsukino Azusagawa (梓川 月乃, Azusagawa Tsukino?)

• Voiced by: Chihiro Otsuka

Blood Type: A

Granddaughter to the owner of the Pantasia chain, and understudy to Ken Matsushiro. Has difficulty getting along with the rest of the Pantasia-involved Azusagawa family because she is an illegitimate child. She is still very dedicated to the Pantasia chain, seeking out talented new bakers (like Azuma and Kawachi) and has garnered the support of many other characters. While she stays behind the scenes for most of the time as far as baking goes, she is implied to be very talented, as she managed to make it to the third place of a past newcomer's battle while extremely young (still wearing a schoolgirl backpack). After Yuuichi had bought out 60% of Pantasia stock and thus become owner, he made Tsukino become the president of Pantasia in order to keep her from forming her own bakery. She seems to have a crush on Azuma, though it was never stated clearly. She is also shown to be very naive, a good example is when Ken convinces Suwabara not to commit seppuku, telling him that Monica was pregnant with Kai's son, after losing to Azuma, Ken says 'when a man and a woman are living in the same house alone, there is nothing for them to do except-' She completes the sentence saying 'play cards, right, Manager?' Ken then chastises her for being so naive.

Ken Matsushiro (松代 健, Matsushiro Ken?)

• Voiced by: Hiroki Touchi

Blood Type: B

Manager of Pantasia Southern Tokyo branch. A burly man with an afro and sunglasses. Renowned as the best French-bread artisan in Japan, he seems to have a predilection with horses and betting on horse-racing. He is Kuroyanagi's former teacher, but early on recognised his outstanding talent as a food critic, and from that point on discouraged his baking, ultimately driving him away. He also likes to tease Kawachi, to whom he was apparently very similar in his youth, occasionally to give him ideas on bread, but mostly just for the hell of it. He also can make Kawachi hallucinate at times. Due to a series of mishaps, he had become the next heir of the Hashiguchi yakuza, much to his displeasure. During the Yakitate!! 25/Yakitate!! 9 Arc he claimed that Monica was pregnant with Kai's son to save him from committing seppuku after he lost to Azuma.

Kyosuke Kawachi (河内 恭介, Kawachi Kyōsuke?)

• Voiced by: Shūhei Sakaguchi

Blood Type: O

Coworker and sidekick to Azuma, from the Kansai area. Initially, Kawachi's knowledge is superior to Azuma's, but as the story develops he becomes the fall guy and comedic relief with jokes focused on his incessant cry of "What was that?!" (lit. "Nanyate?!") and numerous outrageous reactions/illusions in every chapter. He considers Azuma to be his rival, but the two develop a dynamic that is more like an older and younger brother, Kawachi being more experienced than Azuma in the world beyond bread initially, but gradually changed to one with Azuma knowing lots of knowledge while Kawachi can only act surprised. With Tsukino's help, he has obtained "solar gauntlets", solar hands developed through physical training. He is somewhat lazy and perverted, but at desperate times he focuses his effort to create exceptional bread. On one such occasion, he fulfilled the dream of his late father, a diligent but untalented baker, who wanted to make a white bread that was healthy, delicious, and could be eaten everyday. An interesting note about Kawachi is his hair style. Quite possibly the anime character with the most hair style changes throughout the entire series (a total of 3 for his real hair, as well as a huge assortment of wigs during his bald hairstyle, not to mention quite numerous separate hairstyle during reactions). In the manga, he also gone through a lot of shape changes, ranging from a russian doll to a mixture of food ingrident, down into even a very slimey mashed potato mixture. He is teased by everyone because of either his hairstyle or his intelligence. At times, even Azuma and Kanmuri tease him. He had a terrible inferiority complex to Azuma in the beginning of the series, but he gets over it, noticing that he is a good baker, and being content with the third place title he shares with Suwabara, while the latter is very disappointed at this.

Kai Suwabara (諏訪 原戒, Suwabara Kai?)

• Voiced by: Takayuki Sakazume

Blood type: AB

Kuroyanagi's understudy, a serious bread artisan. A master of the katana who claims to have left the swordsman path of destruction to follow the path of life-giving bread. Despite that, he often becomes very warrior-like and fearsome during baking competitions, which occasionally makes other characters wonder if he is truly focused on the 'life-giving' aspect of his bread. He was abandoned as a child when his father walked out on his family to perfect his own swordsmanship and never returned, and was forced to take up a job at a bakery to pay the bills, which resulted in his competitive attitude and cold personality. Like Kawachi, he has solar gauntlets and considers Azuma as a rival. On first appearances, he seems cold-hearted and tough, but in the Monaco Cup Final, he falls in love with a rival German baker working for the American team, Monica Adenauer, and shows a more tender side of himself. He has an unexplained fear of heights as shown in the parachuting into the Mexico arena. After he loses in the Newcomer's Battle, he was taught that techniques are not invented but "stolen" and improved. After this, he began studying and training once more, and created his own signature bread, Lupan.

Shigeru Kanmuri (冠 茂, Kanmuri Shigeru?)

• Voiced by: Marina Inoue

Blood Type: O

An extremely talented Pantasia baker, encountered first during the Pantasia Newcomers' Tournament and discovered to possess the solar hands as well. A Harvard graduate like Kuroyanagi, he looks up to him as a mentor, calling him 'Senpai' (which means Senior). He is considered as a "Harvard Junior Genius", having graduated the prestigious school at a very young age of sixteen. Originally working for Tsukino's evil sister Yukino Azusagawa, Kanmuri defected to the Pantasia's Southern Tokyo store to work with Azuma after Yukino blew up his research laboratory as a result of him losing to Azuma. He remained to keep the store throughout the Monaco Cup, but rejoined the team for the Yakitate!! 25/Yakitate!! 9 challenge. Recently revealed to be one out of the last two possible heirs to the Hashiguchi Company (the biggest gangster organization in Japan). Although he firmly states that he'd never join the Yakuza, problem sets as the other heir, Masanobu Tsutsumi, Shigeru's half-brother, shares the same sentiments. Tsutsumi is jealous at his half-brother for getting all the attention from their father, thus fueling his own determination to defeat the younger boy in a cooking/baking competition. This problem is promptly settled with a one-on-one battle in Yakitate!!25/Yakitate!! 9 (refer to Episode 62). He is probably named after a Shogakukan editor of the same name. He is usually the voice of reason during any match of Azuma's, explainig to everyone what exactly Azuma's strategy is. He is very feminine looking, with a beautiful face and shoulder-length, light pink hair. In a small omake in the manga, it was shown that when looked at close up, he looks exactly like Tsukino. In another omake, Tsukino commented on Kanmuri's long eyelashes. Kanmuri relpied that his eyelashes were long, but ingrown and painful. Tsukino suggested that Kanmuri try out her eyelash curler and mascara, after which Kanmuri proclaimed, "This is great!" Kinoshita, however thought, "I may vomit."Hashiguchi Takashi's editor is also named Shigeru Kanmuri.