Ramen chain offers free refills as upper house elections near, amid concerns younger voters feel politicians are more interested in targeting ageing society

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 June, the Mainichi Shimbun said, provided they can show proof that they have voted.