He's Here!! The Boy with the Hands of the Sun!
Azuma Kazuma, the boy with the Solar Hands, comes to Pantasia in Tokyo, Japan to make the #1 bread for his country, ""Japan!"" This episode tells the back-story of how and why Azuma became interested in bread and why he so badly wants to create Japan's own unique bread; a bread that could proudly be shown as ""Japanese Bread"".
Aired 12/10/2004EP 1 - He's Here!! The Boy with the Hands of the Sun!

Yakitate!! Japan
Kazuma Azuma wants to make bread. Not just any kind of bread, though. He wants to make a bread that represents Japan itself and can stand toe-to-toe with rice as a national food. Thanks to his legendary "Hands of the Sun," unnaturally warm hands that allow dough to ferment faster, Kazuma's bread is like a slice of Heaven.
And when the Pantasia Rookie Competition arrives, everyone will get a taste of his skill! Along with his friend Kawachi (who's only in it for the dough), he’ll go up against koala karate masters, Harvard bread scientists, samurai with rolling-pin swords, and more! Can Kazuma create bread like naan other and bake his way to glory, or should he quit before he's toast?
(Source: Right Stuf)