日本新首相上任"Yes we Kan"主題T恤熱賣
As Japan's new Prime Minister Naoto Kan took power Tuesday, he received an unexpected boost from online sales of T-shirts bearing his picture and the message "Yes we Kan".
While Kan was being sworn in by Japan's Emperor Akihito, Japanese retailer ClubT said it had sold more than 100 T-shirts online with the catch phrase, a reworking of US President Barack Obama's election motto "Yes We Can".
Meanwhile sales of shirts poking fun at his scholarly predecessor Yukio Hatoyama, who stepped down last week, were also surging as people snapped up memorabilia of the premier who carried the moniker "The Alien".
A Washington Post columnist in April called Hatoyama hapless and "increasingly loopy" over his contradictory comments in a dispute over a US airbase that badly strained ties with Washington and finally led him to resign.
Hatoyama later conceded in parliament he may indeed be described as loopy, leading ClubT to print a T-shirt that read: "Self-professed loopy Hatoyama".
"When Hatoyama went into office, his T-shirts didn't sell but they soared after he resigned," company executive Tomohiro Miyake said.
"On the other hand Kan's T-shirt is selling well on his inauguration. It's a sign that the quality of the two leaders' level of popularity is different."
日本新任首相菅直人於本週二正式走馬上任，在上任之際，他獲得了一種意想不到的支持——一款印有他頭像及口號“Yes we Kan”的T恤衫在網上熱賣。
日本一家名爲ClubT的零售商稱，在日本明仁天皇正式任命菅直人爲日本首相之時，他們已在網上賣出了100多件這款印有“Yes we Kan”口號的T恤，該口號是根據美國總統貝拉克•奧巴馬的競選口號“Yes We Can”（是的！我們能！）改編而來的。
與此同時，取笑上週剛辭職的前任首相鳩山由紀夫的T恤銷量也大增。被稱爲“外星人”、學究味很濃的鳩山辭職後，人們紛紛搶購關於他的紀念品。
鳩山由紀夫因在美國駐日空軍基地的搬遷問題上出爾反爾，被《華盛頓郵報》的一位專欄作家在四月份（的一篇文章中）描述爲“倒黴”，“越來越糊塗”。該事件嚴重影響了美日關係，並最終導致了鳩山的下臺。
後來，鳩山在日本國會承認自己或許真的可以被稱爲“糊塗蛋”，所以ClubT公司據此想出了一個“自認糊塗的鳩山”的標語。
ClubT公司負責人三宅友廣說：“鳩山上任時，他的T恤衫賣得很差，但他辭職後銷量反而大增。”
“而菅直人就任當天，他的主題T恤就賣得很好，由此可以看出兩名首相人氣上的差距。”
Vocabulary:
catch phrase：a phrase in wide or popular use, especially one serving as a slogan for a group or movement（口頭禪，警句）
poke fun at: to ridicule or mock, esp. covertly or slyly（取笑）
snap up：to acquire quickly（搶購）
