Was this Batman’s batmobile before he was Batman? I saw this parked on the sidewalk and had to take some pictures.
The owner is clearly a big fan of Anpanman, the most popular anime character among Japanese kids. Anpanman is everywhere in Tokyo, but I’d never seen a fully tricked out Anpanmobile before. Maybe I just didn’t pay attention before my friend Amritha visited and opened my eyes to the utter coolness of Sweet Bean Bread Man (the literal translation).
Some fun facts:
• The character was conceived by Takashi Yanase when he was a starving soldier during World War II, fantasizing about the tasty snack.
• In the story, Anpanman was created when Jam Ojisan, a baker, had his batch of sweet bean pastries struck by a falling star.
• Throughout his adventures, when Anpanman gets injured, new heads are baked by Jam Ojisan.
• Anpanman’s nemesis is Baikinman, or Germ Man. His fatal weakness is soap.
• There have been over 1,700 characters in the Anpanman series. Most of them are some form of food.
• Over 50 million copies of Anpanman books have been sold.
Batman may have a more powerful vehicle, but in terms of coolness, it can’t touch this Anpanman bike.
The Quilting Sword 