Free noodles offered as Japan wrestles with low youth turnout for elections

The Japanese noodle chain said it hoped the free ramen refills would ‘create an opportunity for people to cast their vote’. Photograph: Masahiro Makino/Getty Images

A major Japanese ramen chain is offering free noodles to young people ahead of Sunday’s upper house elections, amid widespread concern that the nation’s disaffected youth will not bother turning out to vote.

Ippudo, which operates 50 ramen shops across the country, is offering endless free noodle refills for a fortnight from election day on Sunday until 24 July, the Mainichi Shimbun said, provided they could show proof that they had voted.