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".

日本新任首相菅直人于本周二正式走马上任，在上任之际，他获得了一种意想不到的支持——一款印有他头像及口号“Yes we Kan”的T恤衫在网上热卖。

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A handout picture released by Japan's ClubT. As Japan's new Prime Minister Naoto Kan took power, he received an unexpected boost from online salesof T-shirts bearing his picture and the message "Yes we Kan".

While Kan was being sworn in by Japan's Emperor Akihito, Japanese retailer²（零售商） 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 poking³ fun at（取消，嘲弄） his scholarly predecessor⁴ Yukio Hatoyama, who stepped down last week, were also surging as people snapped up memorabilia（大事记，纪念品） of the premier⁵ who carried the moniker（绰号，名字） "The Alien".

A Washington Post columnist⁶ in April called Hatoyama hapless（倒霉的） and "increasingly loopy（呆头呆脑的） " over his contradictory⁷（矛盾的，反驳的） comments in a dispute over a US airbase that badly strained ties with Washington and finally led him to resign.

Hatoyama later conceded（承认，退让） 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 inauguration⁸（开始） . It's a sign that the quality of the two leaders' level of popularity is different."