Japanz Bakery brings the craft of Japanese baking to the heart of Christchurch, operating from the South City Centre on Colombo Street. True to its motto — 'Japanese flavours baked with heart under the New Zealand sky' — the bakery is led by a craftsman with 30 years of experience who offers a delightful selection of Japanese and European pastries, pies, sandwiches and cakes.
Bread here is made with carefully selected ingredients and baked one by one with care. The team describes its products by two qualities — the natural flavour of the ingredients and the warmth of handmade goods — and says it cherishes the smiles of its customers, delivering its bread with all its heart every day.
The shelves span Japanese favourites like red bean and custard cream buns, curry puffs and chocolate cornets through to Kiwi classics such as mince, steak and chicken pies, fresh sandwiches, doughnuts, croissants and cakes. Coffee and other drinks are available in-store, gift vouchers make an easy present, and cakes can be ordered in advance through an online form on the bakery's website.
On the ground floor of the South City Centre, right on Colombo Street in central Christchurch, Japanz Bakery is quietly doing something special: bringing the craft of Japanese baking to a very Kiwi high-street setting. Its tagline says it all — *Japanese flavours baked with heart under the New Zealand sky.* Behind the counter stands a craftsman with 30 years of baking experience, turning out a delightful selection of Japanese and European pastries, pies, sandwiches and cakes.
Japanz Bakery is refreshingly upfront about how it works. The bread is made with carefully selected ingredients and baked one by one with care, and the bakery sums up its products by two qualities: the natural flavour of the ingredients and the warmth of handmade goods. Just as central is the welcome — the team says it cherishes the smiles of its customers and delivers its bread with all its heart, every single day. The philosophy fits on a single line, and the proof comes out of the oven instead.
The display cabinets tell the story best. On the Japanese side, you'll find soft buns filled with smooth custard cream or sweet red bean paste, the curl-tipped chocolate cornet that's a staple of every bakery in Japan, cookie-topped buns and golden curry puffs, plus doughnuts — plain, glazed and old-fashioned twisted ones. A vegetable burger bun and a range of savoury buns look after the lunch crowd, and there's an apple pie for the sweet-toothed.
Then there's the croissant selection, capped by the Koru almond croissant — a flaky almond croissant with a distinctly local name — alongside chocolate croissants and savoury cheese twists.
No South Island bakery would be complete without savoury pies, and Japanz Bakery delivers a full lineup: mince, mince and cheese, steak, steak and cheese, chicken, and mince and potato. Sandwiches are made on the bakery's own bread — egg, egg and cheese, ham and lettuce, and tuna and lettuce — and there's a drinks menu with coffee to wash it all down. It's an easy, satisfying lunch stop if you're working or shopping in the city centre.
For something special, the bakery also makes cakes, and you don't need to walk in to arrange one: an online cake order form on the website takes care of advance orders. Gift vouchers are available too — handy when you'd rather let someone else pick their favourite bun.
Japanz Bakery sits in the South City Centre at 555 Colombo Street, Christchurch Central City. Doors are open 9am to 5pm Monday to Saturday, and 10am to 5pm on Sundays and public holidays — handy to know before a weekend trip. You can reach the shop on 03 943 4066, send a message through the inquiry form on its website, or keep up with the latest bakes on Facebook and Instagram.
One last thing worth knowing: the menu on the website is only a taste of what's in the shop. The bakery notes that, in addition to everything listed, it carries many other products in-store. So whether you come for a red bean bun and stay for a steak and cheese pie, or leave with a boxed cake and a voucher, the shelves usually have one more thing worth discovering.