Washington KYODO
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe presented President Barack Obama with a golf putter made by a Japanese manufacturer during their meeting Friday at the White House, a government official said.
In 1957, Abe's grandfather, the late Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi, and then-U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower forged a deep personal relationship by playing golf together after their first meeting in Washington.
When Abe related the tale to Obama, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, who also attended the meeting, asked the prime minister whether his grandfather or Eisenhower had carded the better score.
"It's a state secret," Abe replied, drawing laughter from the participants, according to the official.
The golf putter was made by a company in Yamagata Prefecture.