Who knew that donuts could be the possible solution to fight off COVID-19?

Since the outbreak of COVID-19, people have been trying out a variety of ways to combat the disease. Whilst measures from the government include self-isolation and social distancing, the public has turned to a legend from history to fight off the virus: the Amabie.

Amabie is a half-man and half-fish monster that is said to have emerged from the sea in Kumamoto prefecture in the Edo period during a period of great sickness. In stories passed down from generation to generation, the monster is quoted as having said “If there is ever sickness or disease, draw a picture of me and I will fight the illness”.

The yokai has spent around 200 years almost completely forgotten but has returned to our lives this spring, as a number of Japanese people brought the legend back (through drawings on social media) to fight COVID-19.

Ikumi Mama, a patisserie that specialises in producing donuts that resemble cute animals, has also taken part in the revitalised trend, having added an Amabie monster donut design to their menu. The shop hopes that by making the Amabie monster donuts, we will soon see the end of the coronavirus.

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Ikumi Mama is sending out the donuts via mail, and even has offers to send up to 3 donuts (frozen) via nationwide flights. To get your hands on your own Amabie monster donut place your details and order here (Japanese language only).

Amabie’s features have been recreated using a variety of techniques. The body, made of strawberry chocolate is covered with a mixture of “sweet potato” chocolate and white chocolate, whilst the creature’s face and scales are drawn on with a chocolate pen. Inside each of the Amabie monster donut’s fins are individual almonds that give the donut a mouthwatering crunch.

Ikumi Mama was founded by self-proclaimed cat lover Ikumi Nakao in 2011. The shop’s flagship designs “Koneko Mi-ke” and “Koneko Kuro” quickly became a hot topic on twitter with orders rushing in from all across Japan. Since then, Ikumi Mama has sold over 200 types of animal donuts, including designs of cats, Shiba Inu, lions, frogs and pandas. With designs made in collaboration with big brands such as Hello Kitty and characters from LINE, the donuts from Ikumi Mama are arguably the cutest donut designs in existence.

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To make the donuts, Ikumi Mama uses the best ingredients available from across the country. The eggs are free-range from Wakayama Prefecture and the flour used is produced in Hokkaido, where staff from Ikumi Mama visit the milling factory to check the quality of the grain with their own eyes. Ikumi Mama also uses a variety of specialty flavours, such as matcha, pumpkin and sweet potato in addition to standard flavours of chocolate and strawberry.