People spurn Abe but love his buns

Sweet buns named after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe are enjoying surprisingly brisk sales after the abrupt announcement of his resignation plans last week.

Visitors buy Shin-chan Manju sweet buns named after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at a souvenir shop on the grounds of Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo on Monday. KYODO PHOTO

At a souvenir shop on the grounds of Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, visitors have been making a beeline to buy Shin-chan Manju, which will stop being sold once Abe's successor assumes the post next week.

"I don't like Mr. Abe, but I will buy it as a keepsake," a 32-year-old musician from Suginami Ward cheerfully said as he joined a flurry of last-minute buying Monday.

The buns were thought up by Tokyo confectionery maker Daito Corp. after Abe became prime minister in September 2006.

In the beginning, the company sold the product as Tanjo Shin-chan Manju (Birth of Shin-chan Manju), but sales dwindled in step with Abe's ratings in the opinion polls.

And two months after his Liberal Democratic Party's crushing defeat in the House of Councilors election in July, the company launched Makeruna! Shin-chan Manju (Hang on! Shin-chan Manju), distributing them mainly in Abe's district in Yamaguchi Prefecture and souvenir shops in Tokyo.

The sweet buns averaged sales of about 120 boxes a day in early September, but orders shot up after Sept. 12 when Abe announced his intention to resign, Toshio Okubo, president of Daito, said.

On Monday alone, 1,900 boxes were sold and demand has been so high that production cannot keep up, Okubo said.

"It's just selling so well," he said.

Daito is now thinking up a new product to market under the name of Abe's successor, who is likely to be former Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda. He will face off with LDP Secretary General Taro Aso in Sunday's election for the LDP presidency. Daito is closely watching the race.

"We still don't know whether Mr. Fukuda or Mr. Aso will become the prime minister. That's my concern," Okubo said.