In which country was a fish-shaped cake "taiyaki" first made?

Taiyaki is a Japanese fish-shaped cake, commonly sold as street food. It imitates the shape of tai (red seabream), which it is named after. The most common filling is red bean paste that is made from sweetened azuki beans. Other common fillings may be custard, chocolate, cheese, or sweet potato.

Taiyaki was first sold in Japan in 1909. It is essentially a reshaped form of "imagawayaki", an already popular snack made by wrapping bean paste in flour skin.

Seijirō Kobe, founder of the store "Naniwaya Sōhonten", was having trouble selling his "imagawayaki", so he decided to bake the cakes into fish shapes resembling tai, or red seabream.

Tai are considered a symbol of luck and fortune in Japan, and were an expensive fish only affordable by the higher classes or on special occasions. Masamori Kobe, the fourth owner of the store, stated that Seijirō wanted to give the ordinary people a taste of the expensive fish at low prices.

Taiyaki was introduced to Korea during the Japanese colonial period, where it is known as "bungeo-ppang".

During the postwar period, taiyaki spread to other Asian countries, as well as to the United States.