TOKYO – When Aerosmith announced their farewell tour after half a century of belting out rock hits, fans in Japan were disappointed to learn their country did not make the cut for concert dates.
But the American rock band, known for songs such as Sweet Emotion (1975) and Walk This Way (1975), may have done the next best thing: a pastry in the shape of a fish.
Known as taiyaki, the beloved Japanese treat is usually stuffed with red-bean paste and served hot. Sales of the limited Aerosmith-edition snacks with apple filling began on Saturday at 38 Naruto Taiyaki Honpo shops across Japan, at 300 yen (S$2.70) apiece.
The collaboration came complete with news releases by the franchise and Universal Music Japan, a PDF listing the shops and a customised paper bag for the sweets.
As part of a promotional campaign for the band’s latest greatest hits album, 10 people posting “#Aerosmithtaiyaki” (in Japanese) will win limited-edition towels.
The odd relationship between the Boston-based band and taiyaki began when frontman Steven Tyler discovered the Japanese fish-shaped pastry on a trip to Japan, according to the release.
Joe Perry, 73, Aerosmith’s lead guitarist, apparently shares the vocalist’s enthusiasm, calling the pastry “perfect food”.
Aerosmith’s global tour was paused in late September after Tyler, 75, damaged his larynx during a performance earlier that month.
The taiyaki promotion lasts through mid-December, or until the apple filling runs out, according to Naruto Taiyaki Honpo.
There was no word on whether Aerosmith would cover the hit song Oyoge! Taiyaki-kun, a hit song by Masato Shimon from 1975 (just five years after Aerosmith were founded in 1970) about a fictional taiyaki that escapes the hot griddle to swim in the sea, only to be caught and eaten. BLOOMBERG
