Japan pub-chain leader urges new PM to help eateries hit by COVID-19

Customers have lunch at the yakiniku barbecue restaurant named 'Yakiniku no Watami', operated by Watami Co., in Tokyo, Japan September 17, 2021. Picture taken September 17, 2021. REUTERS/Issei Kato

TOKYO (Reuters) - Miki Watanabe, the chief executive of Japanese pub chain Watami, has urgent advice for the next prime minister: provide fair compensation for restaurants impacted by the COVID-19 restrictions on eateries.

Watanabe, himself a former politician who spent six years in parliament, has a relationship with outgoing Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga from his time in politics.