A bean-paste bun that takes its name from a buzzword associated with the cronyism allegations leveled at Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2017 has become a hit for the design firm that came up with the product.
About 100,000 boxes of Sontaku Manju (Sontaku Buns) have been sold in the six months since it launched, says Heso Production in Osaka.
Sontaku — which means acting on the unspoken wishes of others after speculating about their feelings — became one of the buzzwords of the year because it was central to the favoritism scandals implicating the prime minister.