Yamanashi Prefecture was hit very badly by the recent heavy snowfall that has caused chaos across Japan, seeing the heaviest snowfall since records began. This has led to the closure of most of the prefecture’s main roads, with many people being left stranded at highway service stations.
But one truck driver from the Yamazaki Bread Company warmed the hearts of freezing motorists by distributing the contents of his delivery van for free.
The driver’s actions have been praised by netizens from all corners of the web, showing how much people value community spirit in times of crisis.
From J-CAST:
Stranded Truck Driver Says “Take As Much Bread As You Want!” — Netizens Praise Heroism of Yamazaki Bread Company Truck Driver
In Yamanashi Prefecture, which has been affected by heavy snowfall, and where places like Kofu City have seen snowfall recorded at an all-time high, there have been several incidents where vehicles have been stranded on local roads.
Amidst all that, the “amazing customer service” of a truck driver from major bread baking company Yamazaki Bread has been trending online. Apparently, the driver — whose truck couldn’t move — treated everyone to the bread the truck was carrying.
■ “Yamazaki Bread Is Amazing”; “The Real Anpanman Appears”
“Yesterday, I was lucky enough to get something from the driver of a Yamazaki Bread truck. He told me ‘Take as much as you want!’ Right now while I’m in waiting for them to remove restrictions on the roads at the Dangozaka service station, that was a very precious meal to me. Thank you so much.”
This tweet was posted on February 16, 2014, along with a picture of the man taking a crate of Yamazaki Bread down from the truck and distributing it to people.
Within 24 hours, the tweet had been retweeted approximately 19,000 times, and was trending. Tweets were flooding in exalting the bold decision of the driver, saying things like “Yamazaki Bread is amazing”; “The real anpanman appears w“; “Yamazaki Breadman is cool”.
Furthermore:
“Yamazaki Bread are gods! I got given bread at the Dangozaka service station. Drivers from other trucks also got out and helped to distribute the bread! From now on, I’ll only eat Yama-pan [Yamazaki Bread] (as original)”
“Central road has been closed due to snow, and at the Dangozaka service station, a passing Yamazaki Bread truck is handing out bread. Sutadon and Soba Kawaraya (noodle shop) and giving out food for free. The staff at Starbucks are holding a tasting class to keep everyone amused. A lot of human warmth here. It’s been really stressful for everyone, but this has been really comforting. I hope that things get moving as soon as possible.”
In this way people were tweeting one after another to inform people of the bread being handed out. It seems as though starting with the driver of the Yamazaki Bread Co. truck, the care everyone has taken really warmed the hearts of the people stuck at the service station.
Comments from Yahoo! Japan:
mas*****:
Just popping out to buy some Yamazaki bread.
tos*****:
This is such a good story that warms your heart.
Had I been there,
I don’t suppose I’d have been able to do anything to help people…
We should all be thankful to the people who are working there.
lef*****:
This must have made people happy. They really saved people.
fhs*****:
The bread must also have been satisfied — it didn’t get disposed of for being past its sell-by date.
The fact that this didn’t instigate a bread riot is also very Japanese — it’s a good thing.
正論を語ろう:
Yamazaki’s bread festival in the snow.
tat*****
It would be pretty bad to try and make off a situation like that,
but when you think how their company image has been boosted, the cost of that bread was cheap at the price.
The driver probably couldn’t make the delivery in the snow, and so I guess he treated them to the goods being transported.
I really admire his powers of imagination for doing something that’s not set out in the manual.
tat*****:
Yup, Japanese people really are great.
k_c*****:
Even if he’d done his best to get it delivered, it would just be going stale. This was a good move. On the other hand, there is no bread in the convenience store. Ah well…can’t be helped.
fuk*****:
Yamazaki have done this before.
I wonder if they put it in the manual after last time?
Anyhow, even if he’d delivered it he wouldn’t have been in time, so good job.
drg*****:
The real Anpanman….I cried.
Comments from 2ch.net:
魔神風車固め(東京都):
I think this is simply splendid.
カーフブランディング(静岡県):
This is great.
頭突き(WiMAX):
So he didn’t make his delivery slot?
ハーフネルソンスープレックス(庭):
He won’t be paying for this out of his own pocket, right?
膝十字固め(東京都):
This driver’s gonna get sacked.
ミッドナイトエクスプレス(新疆ウイグル自治区) [in response to above]:
He’s bound to have contacted the company.
Because if you can’t make your deliver slot it all gets chucked out anyway.
シャイニングウィザード(家):
Even if he’d gone on to deliver it now it would be disposed of for sure.
ダイビングフットスタンプ(東日本):
During 3.11 [Tohoku Earthquake] Yamazaki also distributed bread to placed that had no food.
ハーフネルソンスープレックス(やわらか銀行):
Yamazaki bread guy rocks.
張り手(大阪府):
This spirit of mutual kindness is great.
Those who got bread for free, please go out and buy Yamazaki bread later on.
タイガースープレックス(兵庫県):
If they’re throwing it away, they may as well distribute it to increase their public image, that’s the suggestion here. But in this kind of situation people are really grateful.
ドラゴンスリーパー(東京都):
This is great advertising.
They’re not going to lose from this at all.
