The snack became so well-loved that on 8 May 1891, Tokyo newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun called them "the kasutera [Portuguese-inspired sponge cake] for students and the yōkan [a hard, jelly-like sweet made from red beans] for alley society." The insinuation was that cooked sweet potatoes were a worthy, cheap alternative to otherwise refined sweet treats available at the time. As the century turned, students started influencing the way sweet potatoes were prepared. Daigaku-imo (university sweet potatoes) were wedges slathered in molasses, so named because they were originally sold and eaten in Kanda, near Tokyo University. "By 1905, there were 1,300 yaki-imo places in Tokyo," Rath said.