In September 2007, after Shinzo Abe had abruptly quit his first stint as prime minister, sales of Shin-chan Manju, a bean-paste-filled bun named after Abe, spiked. The maker of the buns had tried to promote the product over the course of Abe's year as the Liberal Democratic Party leader, changing its name in line with the prime minister's evolving vision of a "beautiful Japan," but the buns never sold very well — that is until he resigned. The sudden interest in the confection was simply a register of its commemorative value. It made a nice "keepsake," as one buyer told Kyodo News at the time.