TOKYO (BLOOMBERG) – The politician set to become Japan’s next prime minister may not be all that savvy on social media – but a photo of his favourite food struck a chord with Twitter users overnight after he was elected to lead the nation’s ruling party.

While Mr Fumio Kishida’s first post as the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) got a little over 30,000 likes, a picture of his dinner on Wednesday (Sept 29) garnered more than four times as many clicks.

“When I got home, my wife Yuko made me okonomiyaki, because I had said I love the dish she makes for me on Instagram live,” Mr Kishida tweeted. “It’s always super delicious, but today it was so delicious I won’t forget it for a lifetime. Thank you.”

For those not familiar with okonomiyaki, it’s a savoury pancake filled with cabbage that’s cooked on a griddle, with various extras like meat and fish and topped with sauce.

A variation of the dish is a regional specialty in Osaka and is considered a soul food for Hiroshima, Mr Kishida’s constituency.

He is by no means a prominent voice among politicians on Twitter, with just around 180,000 followers.

That’s a long way behind the 2.4 million followers of Mr Taro Kono, the avid Twitter and Instagram user he beat to the top job.

Mr Kishida will have to tread carefully as he learns how to operate social media platforms.

An Instagram photo of his wife cooking him dinner during last year’s LDP leadership election, when he lost to outgoing prime minister Yoshihide Suga, was met with a backlash for coming across as sexist.

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