I heard the rumor that the Mayor of Obama-shi, Fukui-ken was going to have a statue of Uncle Barry made, but I was hoping that it would be a professionally-made full-sized bronze. This is what we got instead. Sort-of looks more like Tanaka Kunie with a suntan than the C-in-C. It’s painted concrete, and I hope it’s something the art club of a local school did and not something the city paid for.
The only “I (heart) Obama” goods I could find were some phone straps, neck lanyards, manju, and senbei. I really wanted a shirt or stickers, but since we’re into the second term and Barry can’t run again, the whole connection between the city and the man will fade, and the production of goods will cease. That probably goes for a bronze statue too: This probably isn’t a temporary solution until the bronze arrives with only a few years left of the administration. I think I missed the boat on stickers or a shirt. The senbei were funny, since it had the image of the face on the front, and the back of the head on the reverse. Those definitely wouldn’t have made the trip from Obama to Osaka, no less the bustling around Osaka and the various flights to Sapporo and Honolulu.
More pictures after the break…
0 Responses to “Uncle Barry”