{"id":180,"date":"2025-05-05T18:00:18","date_gmt":"2025-05-06T01:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/?p=180"},"modified":"2025-05-05T18:00:18","modified_gmt":"2025-05-06T01:00:18","slug":"taste-testing-japans-i-love-obama-cakes%e3%80%90taste-test%e3%80%91","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/?p=180","title":{"rendered":"Taste-testing Japan\u2019s \u201cI love Obama\u201d cakes\u3010Taste test\u3011"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

There\u2019s an obvious gag gift element to these manju from Fukui, but is the pun delicious?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Recently our Japanese-language reporter Masanuki Sunakoma<\/strong> was out for a drive, and before he realized it, he drove right into Obama<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re perhaps wondering why Masanuki isn\u2019t under investigation for vehicular manslaughter, it\u2019s because the Obama he drove into wasn\u2019t former United States president Barack Obama, but the Japanese town of Obama<\/strong>. Located in western Fukui Prefecture<\/strong> on the shores of Wakasa Bay, the town of Obama\u2019s name is written with the kanji characters \u5c0f\u6d5c, meaning \u201clittle beach,\u201d but is pronounced exactly the same way as the former U.S. president\u2019s.<\/p>\n

Founded in 1951 and with a population of only around 30,000 people, the city of Obama had a pretty low profile for its first 50-plus years. Once President Obama was elected, though, the coincidentally named Fukui town started attracting a lot more attention. So as Masanuki was passing through the area, he decided to see if the former U.S. head of state is still in the minds of the Fukui locals by checking out the offerings at the Wakasa Obama michi no eki (\u201croadside station\u201d)<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Michi no eki are non-expressway rest stops with attached food courts and souvenir shops highlighting points of pride for the local community. A lot of times you\u2019ll find handicrafts such as traditional dolls and textiles, or locally grown fruits or teas. At Wakasa Obama, though, you\u2019ll also find caricatures of Donald Trump<\/strong> and Joe Biden<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Though their political careers have been characterized by stark disagreement on nearly every possible policy, these illustrated versions have at least found one common sentiment, with the Trump illustration saying \u201cObama really is great!\u201d and Biden agreeing \u201cYeah, great!\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

And for those who want to declare their own love of Obama, there\u2019s the Obama Manju<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Manju are a kind of traditional Japanese dessert, small cakes usually filled with anko (sweet bed bean paste). The Obama Manju, also called the \u201cObaman,\u201d come five to a pack, with the message \u201cI \u2661 OBAMA\u201d<\/strong> written in no less than two places on the wrapper.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Also on the wrapper is an illustration of a familiar-looking head seen from behind. Masanuki assumed this was a coy way of making the reference less direct, until he went to another souvenir shop elsewhere in Fukui and saw that there are also Obama Manju packages that are much more upfront about the product\u2019s inspiration<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

It\u2019s an obvious attempt by the town of Obama to capitalize on its 10 minutes\/2 presidential terms of fame, and with the pun-based comedy being part of their appeal, Masanuki figured their flavor probably wouldn\u2019t be much to write home about<\/strong>. Still, he decided to pick up a pack of five for 756 yen (US$5.25), since he figured it\u2019s always better to have gag gift desserts than to have no desserts at all.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Curious as to whether his manju would have Obama\u2019s face on them or the back of his head, Masanuki opened up the package and slipped out the contents, discovering that you get both designs even in a single pack.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Each manju is individually wrapped for easier sharing, and once Masanuki had a pair completely open he could see that they\u2019re actually quite nicely made.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Still he kept his expectations measured as he took a bite, only to quickly find out his lack of faith had been completely unnecessary. The cake, made with yam mixed into the dough, was tender and moist, with the faint yet delicately enticing aroma of sake, and the anko was flavorful but not overly sweet<\/strong>. Even if you took out the pun-based name and visual design, these would be a great sweet snack.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The Obama Manju is delicious in a mature, relaxed way that\u2019s devoid of blustery drama or attention-grabbing shock tactics, and between its great taste and the fact that they\u2019re still being made and sold eight years after Obama\u2019s second term ended, they\u2019ll probably be available for some time to come. If you\u2019d like to try them for yourself but a trip to Fukui isn\u2019t in your near-future plans, they can also be ordered online from Obama confectioner Inoue Koyoan here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Related: Wakasa Obama website<\/a><\/em>
\nPhotos \u00a9SoraNews24<\/em>
\n\u25cf Want to hear about SoraNews24\u2019s latest articles as soon as they\u2019re published? Follow us on Facebook<\/a> and Twitter<\/a>!<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There\u2019s an obvious gag gift element to these manju from Fukui, but is the pun delicious? Recently our Japanese-language reporter Masanuki Sunakoma was out for a drive, and before he…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-180","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rss"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=180"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=180"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=180"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=180"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}