What Makes a “Good Bakery”?

The Philosophy of Chef Hirayama, Owner of Pain Stock

 

Located in a residential neighborhood in eastern Fukuoka, Pain Stock opened in 2010 and has since become one of the most beloved bakeries in the city. In 2019, a second location opened in Tenjin Central Park, in the heart of Fukuoka.

Owner and baker Tetsuo Hirayama regularly works in both bakeries while also traveling frequently to Tokyo, Osaka, Korea, and other regions to give baking seminars and technical training. Many former staff members have now opened their own bakeries, often seeking Hirayama’s advice when starting their businesses.

So what does Hirayama believe makes a bakery that customers will continue to love for years?
He shares three principles for building a truly great shop.

 

1. Win Without Fighting

One of the biggest challenges when opening a bakery is getting people to notice your shop and taste your bread.

“If you open a new shop but make the same bread everyone else is making, you’re starting the game with very low odds,” Hirayama explains.

Instead, he believes a bakery must first create something that sparks curiosity.

For Pain Stock, this meant clearly communicating its unique concept:
long fermentation bread that tastes delicious even after being stored.

The bakery’s name itself reflects this idea. By slowly fermenting the dough over a long period of time, the bread develops deeper flavor and remains enjoyable even later.

Hirayama also emphasizes the importance of putting your philosophy into words.
When customers understand the idea behind the bread, they become more interested in tasting it.

 

“If people think, ‘That sounds interesting—I want to try it,’ then you’ve already increased your chances of success.”

Once customers visit, the real test begins: does the bread actually taste good?

Marketing or storytelling may bring people in, but the bread itself must deliver. However, Hirayama believes that when people already understand the concept behind the bread, they are more likely to recognize and appreciate its unique qualities.

“Humans like to confirm what they imagine. When the flavor matches the expectation in their mind, they easily feel that something is delicious.”

He compares this idea to baking itself.

Even before shaping dough, success is already determined by how well the dough is prepared. By carefully controlling each step before baking, the chances of success increase.

Baking, he says, is about accumulating small victories.

“If the normal success rate is 90%, we keep asking ourselves how we can make it 100%.”

Still, Hirayama doesn’t believe winning is everything.

Even failures contribute to growth. Over a span of ten years, the experiences of trying, failing, and improving become the true assets of a company—more valuable than short-term profits.

 

 

2. Stimulate the Customer’s Subconscious

The appeal of Pain Stock is not only its bread. The interior design—featuring natural wood and stone—creates a distinctive atmosphere that is just as memorable as the products.

Before becoming a baker, Hirayama actually studied architecture, and this background influences how he designs his shops.

“When designing a store, I always imagine what customers will see from a specific position,” he says.

Floor plans alone cannot show what people will see at eye level. Hirayama visualizes the space using perspective drawings to better understand the customer’s viewpoint.

Another key question he asks himself is:

“How can we make customers want to see more?”

Interestingly, he believes that if people can see everything at once, they may actually become less curious.

He recalls visiting Disneyland and noticing how certain attractions narrow your field of vision before suddenly opening up into a wide, magical space.

“That moment feels like entering another world,” he says.

Ideally, he jokes, he would like to make the bakery completely dark at first—then gradually reveal the space.

Although bakeries cannot create such dramatic effects, he believes that subtle contrasts and rhythms in space design can change the customer’s emotional experience.

At Pain Stock, some customers visit multiple times per week, but Hirayama believes most visitors come about once a month.

These customers may not consciously think they love the bakery—they simply come because it somehow feels right.

Hirayama calls this expanding the “denominator.”

By increasing the number of casual monthly visitors, some will naturally become loyal regular customers.

To create that feeling of “I just want to go there,” he says enormous effort is required behind the scenes.

Just like Disneyland, where everything—from staff behavior to small details in the environment—is carefully designed to maintain a consistent world.

“It may feel like ‘nothing special,’ but to create that feeling probably requires 100 times more effort.”

Ultimately, this becomes brand power—a connection with customers that operates at a subconscious level.

 

 

3. Character Cannot Be Hidden

More than ten former Pain Stock staff members have opened their own bakeries across Japan. Many of them have become well-known shops themselves.

Hirayama often visits these bakeries, and he has noticed something they share in common.

People who truly want to make great products care deeply about how those products are experienced by others.

They think about the customer’s perspective, the sales display, the environment—everything.

Because they care so much, they continue improving their bread.

People who truly love something will study its origins, its history, and how it developed into what it is today.

From looking at a bakery, Hirayama says, you can usually sense what kind of intention the owner has when making their bread.

Even if the bread isn’t perfect at first, someone with that mindset will continue experimenting, researching, and refining until it improves.

“In the end, a baker’s character appears in the bread.”

 

Popular brands are often copied, but copies rarely possess the same energy.

Even if two breads look similar, careful craftsmanship can always be tasted.

Hirayama compares this to luxury brands like Hermès. Their products are meticulously crafted down to the smallest detail, and that quality resonates subconsciously with customers.

The same is true in a bakery.

Even areas customers cannot see—like the back kitchen—should be kept clean and organized. Each piece of dough should be shaped with attention and care.

“Your values and intentions naturally appear in the shop,” Hirayama says.

If you approach every detail with thought and sincerity, customers will sense it.
And that sincerity ultimately leads to better products and a stronger bakery.

 

Profile

Tetsuo Hirayama
Born in 1975 in Fukuoka, Japan.

After graduating from the Faculty of Law at Fukuoka University, Hirayama began working at the bakery Pain Nagata. He later trained in France and worked at several well-known bakeries in Tokyo.

In 2010, he opened Pain Stock in the Hakozaki residential district of Fukuoka.
A second location opened in Tenjin Central Park in 2019.

He is also the author of the book: “Pain Stock: Long Fermentation Bread Making.”