A humorous tweet earlier this year about an ice cream bar boosted new ties between the city of Seki in Gifu Prefecture, well known for its swords, and sweets maker Imuraya Group Co. that otherwise would not have been nurtured.
As a show of new friendship, 100 azuki (red bean-flavored ice cream) bars will be handed out for free at a live demonstration of sword forging held at Seki Sword Tradition Museum in the city later this month.
It started when someone jokingly compared the traditional swords produced in Seki, which is also famous for cutlery, to Imuraya's hit product, azuki bars, on social networking service Twitter at the end of February.