The genome assembly of bread wheat (Triticum aestivum) has been difficult because of its large genome size and allohexaploid nature. In this issue, Shimizu, Copetti, Okada et al. (pp.8-27) have analyzed the chromosome-scale genome assembly of a representative Japanese cultivar, Norin 61, together with other assemblies of the 10+ Wheat Genomes Project. Notable molecular characteristics and differences between Norin 61 and other T. aestivum cultivars were observed, including a novel copy-number variation and pseudogenization of homeologs of the florigen gene FT1/VRN3. Thus the Norin 61 genome sequence will enable the comprehensive characterization of Asian bread wheat diversity, which to date has been underexploited.