"Panda poop" manufactured by Hirosaki's fugashi specialty store "Matsuo" (Jotokita, Hirosaki, TEL 0172-27-4218) is currently attracting attention online.

"Panda Unko", which was developed after the giant panda "Shangshan" born in 2017 at Ueno Zoo, is a coating of 5 cm long grilled fugashi with Hokkaido Tensai sugar and Uji matcha. Fugashi with panda. The green color resembles that of an actual panda panda, and the size is said to be almost the actual size.

The beginning of the topic was "Panda's poop" inventor and cross-stitch designer Makoto Ozu said on April 26, "I want to help even a little, but the zoo and souvenir shop are closed" (sic) etc. When I posted, there were more than 4000 retweets and the information spread. Yuetsu Matsuo, the fourth president of "Matsuo," said, "I'm surprised to receive about 100 orders from the internet since yesterday."

"Panda's Unko" was a popular product that sold as many as 200 pieces a day due to the popularity of "Shangshan" and the hit of "Unko Kanji Drill", but sales decreased from last year due to the influence of the new coronavirus. "The number of souvenir shops in Ueno has disappeared, and the number of dealers has decreased. Orders have decreased further this year," says Matsuo.

Mr. Matsuo and Mr. Ozu met at the end of 2017 (Heisei 29). Mr. Matsuo said, "Since the size of the fugashi was suitable for" Panda's poop, "I was offered a consultation to sell it in green. I couldn't imagine it because I had never seen the actual product, but our company. The strength of this product was that it was handmade and we were able to immediately work on product development. We decided to commercialize it in collaboration with Mr. Ozu, who has an idea. "

Initially, it was only in a bag, but now it is sold in a box, and now it has sister products such as "Aomori apple flavor", "banana flavor", and "sakura flavor". It also started selling at its own sales site and the direct sales office in Hirosaki. Mr. Matsuo said, "It used to be a product that could only be bought in Tokyo, but now it can be handled in Hirosaki by Corona. I hope it will be an opportunity for locals to try it."

The price is 594 yen. The direct sales office is open from 9:00 to 17:00. Closed on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays.