Searching for Susie-chan

For decades, a cute little blonde girl biting into a slice of white bread has been the corporate mascot for bread company Yamazaki Pan. Its trucks bearing the image of the girl known only as Susie-chan regularly roam the streets of Japan and for many years her real identity was forgotten. Last year, a certain corner of the internet tried to get to the bottom of the mystery, prompting ASIJ to wonder whether Susie-chan was a former student. We were right and the little girl on the trucks turned out to be Susie Bauman Ziemer ’81.

Susie’s family came to Japan in 1964, when she was just six months old. Her father worked with Northwest Airlines, and Susie and her siblings Steve Bauman ’76 and Ann Bauman Schulte ’78 attended ASIJ while modeling on the side. “I did a lot of jobs when I was younger,” Susie recollects, as did her siblings. “I was in an an and non-no and all of
those magazines.”

The Yamazaki Pan job started out just like any other job. Susie was picked from a selection of photos of child models through the modeling agency, and on the day of the shoot, her mother, Joanne Bauman (AP ’64–78), fixed her hair and picked out the blue dress that would become famous all over Japan. The concept of the shoot was easy for a three-year-old — look cute while eating bread. “I loved bread, so I was happy when they had me take a bite out of the bread,” Susie shared with a laugh, “But every time they took a new photo, they needed a new piece of bread. My mom said that I would cry and get upset, because the staff would say, ‘We’ll bring you another one,’ but I just kept wanting to eat the bread in my hands!”

Susie, who was paid ¥4,000 at the time for her work, knew that Yamazaki Pan was still using her photo 57 years later from friends and family members sharing photos, but she wasn’t in touch with the company. “I didn’t get free bread for life or anything, just the money,” she commented with a chuckle.

Despite the fact that she received no royalties for being the face of the Yamazaki Pan company for nearly six decades, Susie recalls her time in Japan fondly. “I loved ASIJ,” she shared. “I was a swimmer and a cheerleader. I loved being with all different kids from all over the world. Great teachers, great classes, great everything.” She was devastated when her family was transferred back to the United States in the middle of her high school career.

Eventually, several decades later, Susie was contacted by friends informing her that Yamazaki Pan was looking to see where she was now. After several setbacks, Susie made it back to Japan this year with her whole family, where they were welcomed to the Yamazaki Pan offices like royalty. “It was a crazy experience,” Susie commented with a laugh. “They rolled out the red carpet for us, and took us to every floor of the building, introducing us to everyone, so many people bowing to us. It’s something we’ll never forget.”

But despite being basically a celebrity, Susie made time to visit ASIJ as well, with her husband, Mark, and three  of her children. “ASIJ is such a dear, special place for us,” she shared. “It’s so wonderful. We think this is the best place to grow up.”