One of the main attractions of Japan's newly opened Kobe Port Museum (located in Kobe, of course) is its theatrical aquarium Aquarium x Art átoa. The facility combines aquatic animal exhibits with creative digital art displays so that visitors can have a fantastical aquarium experience.

It's not one of its unique exhibits that has been turning heads lately, however, but an item from the aquarium's gift store.

One of the stars of the aquarium's "Spirit Forest - ELEMENTS" area is the naked mole-rat, an animal with a very distinct hairless and bucktoothed appearance. While you might expect the gift store to have a cutesified plushie version of the underground rodent, átoa has gone the other way--releasing an incredibly realistic sweet potato recreation of a naked mole-rat!

The packaging itself is enough to make you ask--"wait, this is edible?"

Source: @debadebaba

Source: @debadebaba

But sure enough, once you open up the box, you get a lifelike reproduction of a naked mole-rat, right down to the hairless skin, wrinkles, and protruding teeth used for digging--all artistically made out of sweet potato!

Source: @debadebaba

Source: @debadebaba

While the rodent sweet potato has been a topic since the museum's opening, photos shared by Kyoko Miura (@debadebaba), a researcher of the naked mole-rat, have ignited many on the internet with curiosity, fascination, and perhaps even a bit of horror. Miura says the naked mole-rat sweet potato was sent to her by a colleague sent it to her from Kobe.

Miura adds that while she was hesitant to cut into the strange sweet potato, once she did, everyone at her lab partook of it and enjoyed the taste!

The naked mole-rat sweet potato comes with a plastic knife to carve it up with and share (it's rather large), and reviews online say the rodent treat has a thick and sticky texture, with a nice sweet potato aroma and tarty taste.

Here you can watch idol group Lovelys cut into the naked mole-rat sweet potato.

@yagi_shaki ハダカデバネズミのスイートポテト食べた??リアルすぎ(笑) #ハダカデバネズミ #スイートポテト #アトア ♬ original sound - diana

If you're looking for a souvenir that packs some punch, a very specific birthday cake, or just want to try a sweet potato in the shape of the naked mole-rat, the aquarium's gift shop sells them for 1,700 yen.


By - Big Neko.