Overview

• On October 11, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba walked to the ramen shop Hashigo near the Prime Minister’s Office in Tokyo’s Minato Ward, according to local reports.
• He dined with his wife, Kako, and a secretary in a relaxed mood as he prepares to leave office.
• Reporters said he ate fried-pork tantanmen and shumai and remarked that it was delicious before departing.
• He had avoided such casual public meals during his tenure for security reasons and had lamented after his early-September resignation announcement that he might finish without eating ramen.
• The outing came a day after he released reflections marking 80 years since the end of World War II and carried added symbolism given his role as chair of the Ramen Culture Promotion Diet Members’ League.