Sales of cuddly stuffed Japanese Prime Minister dolls on the decline.

April 11, 2002 8:45 AM

Sales of cuddly stuffed Japanese Prime Minister dolls on the decline. Mobile phone strap sales also down. There used be hundreds of customers lining up outside the building last summer... Would you buy "packets of cookies" with Bush's face on them? (via f*edgaijin)
posted by curiousg (8 comments total)

It's a shame to see Koizumi manipulated the way he was. The LDP chose him, knowing that they needed a popular reform PM to get through the elections last May . . . Then they refused to support any of the reforms he was touting when he ot the job.
posted by dogmatic at 9:59 AM on April 11, 2002

I found some examples of Koizumi products here and here and f..ckedgaijin links to a whole bunch of crap here. Can't say I would get anything with Bush's face on them but I wouldn't mind a Bob Dole '96 mug for some reason.

You have to keep in mind when Koizumi came in he had this sort of cool hip image that really excited the youth, sort of like Pierre Trudeau. I don't think there has been anyone similar in American politics.
posted by bobo123 at 10:06 AM on April 11, 2002

So where could I get a Koizumi doll? You know, to keep Domokun company.
posted by plinth at 10:13 AM on April 11, 2002

LOL, nice links bobo123! I love this quote too: Packets of cookies mixing Koizumi and Tanaka — "Jun-chan" and "Makiko-san" — are still available, however. Shop owner Katsuyuki Sugiura, 56, said, "They are not getting along well at the moment, but what can I do? The idea of making assorted cookies has already been taken."


It's really typical politics, but I think the LDP just got lucky this time, duping the public more than usual. The good old days.
posted by curiousg at 10:17 AM on April 11, 2002

You have to keep in mind when Koizumi came in he had this sort of cool hip image that really excited the youth, sort of like Pierre Trudeau. I don't think there has been anyone similar in American politics.

Oh, really?
posted by yhbc at 10:19 AM on April 11, 2002

Would you buy "packets of cookies" with Bush's face on them?

No, but maybe one of these.
... or maybe these.

Is it alright to refer to our Commander-in-Chief as a "Bobble-Head?"
posted by jpburns at 10:26 AM on April 11, 2002

Koizumi is all image. Unlike most Japanese politicians he has personality and knows how to speak in public. This was new. Unfortunately what he says is mere platitudes and easy promises designed to foster the illusion that somehow things are going to change in Japan. He accomplished NOTHING in his year in office. This is because at heart there isn't a without a worthwhile thought in his head. The irony of course is that the Japanese public are dumping him not because he broke all his promises, but because he dumped Tanaka, which was about the only reasonable decision he made. You are the weakest link -- goodbye.

Who is next? Shiokawa?
posted by dydecker at 10:34 AM on April 11, 2002

Cool links! Reminds me of the huge cutouts of filmstart turned politicians all over Southern India in the late eighties to early nineties.
posted by justlooking at 12:21 PM on April 11, 2002