Taiyaki (鯛焼き, literally means 'baked sea bream') is a Japanese dessert that's unique in that it's shaped like a fish. Specifically, it looks like a 'tai' (鯛), which is a seabream. This fish cake came into existence in 1909, where it was sold as a recreation of imagawayaki, another popular Japanese dessert. Senjiro Kobe was having some trouble selling his cakes, so he decided to bake the cakes into shapes of fish in hopes of getting them to sell better. Tai is a symbol of luck and fortune in Japan, an expensive fish that only the upper class could afford. Kobe created the cake in the shape of this luxurious symbol in hopes of giving the lower class an opportunity to taste this fish as well. Throughout history, there are many variations and fillings that exist, however; the most iconic version is the simple cake with red bean filling.