That’s right, Barack Obama is big in Japan!

U.S. presidential hopeful and Democratic Party front runner Senator Barack Obama is getting support from the oddest place…in Japan! The city of Obama (小浜市), a small seaside town facing the Sea of Japan in Fukui Prefecture happens to share the same name with the charismatic candidate from Illinois and the residents there couldn’t be happier.

Lovely receptionists at Sekumi-ya Hotel in Obama, Fukui Prefecture show off a sign of well wishes to Barack Obama

The town which served as an important stop on the trade route to Japan’s ancient capital Kyoto in the old days first noticed the connection when Senator Obama appeared on Japanese TV TBS in 2006 recalling an immigration officer at Narita International Airport telling him that his home town is also called “Obama”. In case you haven’t noticed, in general it takes very little effort to get the Japanese excited about something and start a new craze since the society is very group oriented. And the small fishing town of 32,000 in western Japan has found their calling…to rally behind Barack Obama while selling all kinds of related souvenirs from t-shirts to chopsticks to cellphone straps.

“Thanks for pimpin’ my name…I’m gonna be rich, bitches!”

The people of the 1,500 year old town that used to be responsible for providing food to the emperor are taking this event quite seriously and have formed an official support group for Senator Obama. A representative in the lobby of Sekumi-ya Hotel where they have set up camp says, “I think our support base will keep growing. We wanted to do something because Mr. Obama doesn’t feel like a stranger to us. He’s like a relative to us.”

Seiji Fujihara (R), manager of Sekumiya Hotel in Obama, Japan points to a banner wishing good luck to presidential hopeful Barack Obama