Fukui is a prefecture divided. On the one hand, it is home to Obama, a rustic fishing village on the Sea of Japan. (Obama means ¡°little beach.¡±) On the other, its capital city¡ªtwo hours from Obama on the commuter train¡ªis a Republican stronghold: Fukui City, where Sarah Palin¡¯s rimless gray titanium eyeglasses are made.
Obama, a quaint outpost known for its temples, mackerel, and lacquerware, has emerged as a hub of Barack Obama activism. Last winter, in preparation for Super Tuesday, Seiji Fujihara, the secretary-general of the Obama for Obama Support Group, asked his friend Mr. Adachi, a sometime graphic designer, to draw an image of the Senator. Adachi is no Shepard Fairey, but his image of Obama, sketched in ten minutes¡ªcropped hair, jumbo ears, set in a ¡°Presidential¡± seal under the motto ¡°I ♥ Obama¡±¡ªis as prevalent on the streets of Obama as Fairey¡¯s posters are in Northeastern cities. Support-group members also recorded a theme song, ¡°Obama Is Beautiful World¡±¡ª¡°The sea spreading far out and the bright sunshine reflect the future of your country, America. . . . / La-la-la-la-la Obama! / Obama is beautiful world! / Obama is No. 1!¡±¡ªwhich seemingly owes a debt to the opening measures of the Village People¡¯s ¡°Y.M.C.A.¡± Another friend of Fujihara¡¯s, a plumber, sculpted a bust of Obama, microphone in hand, and wrapped a traditional Japanese sash around its head.
The bust stands at the entrance to the support group¡¯s war room, a coffee bar and souvenir shop whose wares include Adachi-designed T-shirts, along with chopsticks, kites, and steamed cakes filled with sweet adzuki beans. Grill marks on the bean cakes depict the back of Obama¡¯s head. ¡°We thought it was not appropriate to have Mr. Obama¡¯s face without his consent, since these are for sale,¡± Fujihara said. So far, thirteen hundred of Obama¡¯s thirty-three thousand citizens have signed up for membership.
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The other day, Fujihara had an appointment to present to the city¡¯s new mayor, Kouji Matsuzaki, a trumpet-sleeved happi coat with ¡°I ♥ Obama¡± printed on the back. He arrived at City Hall wearing an Obama-for-Obama-made tie, along with a campaign-issued Obama ¡¯08 pin. The previous mayor, he said, had approved of the group¡¯s efforts, and had even sent the Senator a lacquer daruma doll¡ªa limbless, egg-shaped figure considered by Japanese politicians to be a good-luck charm¡ªinscribed with the message ¡°You Should Win.¡±
At the designated hour, Fujihara made a neat stack of the happi coat, an Obama tie, and a copy of ¡°Obama Is Beautiful World¡± and headed for the Mayor¡¯s conference room. He bowed to the Mayor¡ªwho bowed back, and graciously received the swag. Then they sat down to talk odds. ¡°The Bush Administration is admitting to the Wall Street scandal,¡± Fujihara said. ¡°Mr. Obama is getting a tailwind from this financial mayhem.¡± If Obama wins, Fujihara said, he hopes to go to Washington for the Inauguration.
from the issuecartoon banke-mail thisAnd what of Fukui City? There, in a field of flowering buckwheat, sits Masunaga Optical Manufacturing, maker of the Palin frames. Satoru Masunaga, the company¡¯s C.E.O. (his grandfather started the firm, in 1905), wears specs from the company¡¯s high-end line. Palin¡¯s frames¡ªMP-704, color No. 34, about three hundred and fifty dollars before lenses¡ªhe considers ¡°middle class.¡± Personally, he hopes Palin will become Vice-President. ¡°Before this happened with Palin, we sold five hundred pieces of this style a month in the U.S.,¡± he said. ¡°Now we cannot count. Since the beginning of September, there have been more than ten thousand orders.¡±
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Palin is said to own seven pairs of glasses, but Masunaga is confident that she¡¯ll stick with the 704s. ¡°Our eyeglasses have given a boost to her image and her performance, so I think she will wear them,¡± he said. ¡°If you see her in her old eyeglasses, she looks like an O.K. hockey mom. But when she wears our glasses she looks like a real politician. She looks intelligent.¡± (He mentioned that Henry Paulson, the Treasury Secretary, also wears Masunaga frames.)
Kazuo Kawasaki, the designer of a fully artificial heart, nuclear generators for the home, and Palin¡¯s eyeglasses, is from Fukui City. He is a self-proclaimed conservative, but he refuses to take sides. ¡°I¡¯m hoping that through my glasses she will grasp the world correctly,¡± he said. ¡°I heard that, during her time as First Lady, Hillary Clinton also wore my glasses, when she was at home. Of course, Mrs. Palin is a very beautiful woman, and if she became Vice-President I would love to become her fashion stylist.¡± If anybody cares, the model that Clinton is said to have worn is MP-631, but she wouldn¡¯t confirm it.
