A surprise fashion choice by British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has led to a sales run on the branded socks of a Japanese professional baseball team.
Sunak sported a pair of the red official socks of Hiroshima Toyo Carp, from Hiroshima City, western Japan, when he met Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio at a bilateral summit in the city last Thursday.
Now, the social media buzz around the unusual footwear selection has led to them selling out.
Sunak was visiting Japan to attend the Group of Seven Summit. The baseball team is a favorite of Kishida, whose constituency is in Hiroshima.
Comments on social media included praise for Sunak's playfulness, which one author said felt, "typically British." Others spoke of how happy the incident made the team's fans.
The firm selling official team products says its Hiroshima shop in the city sold out of the socks, including those in different colors, by Saturday. It said new deliveries are expected in the middle of next month.
One woman came to buy a pair for her 5-year-old nephew, who wanted them after watching the British prime minister wearing them on television. She vowed to visit the shop again to buy the socks.
Murai Satoko, who designed the socks, said she never dreamed that the British prime minister would wear them. She added that she's excited to know that he was thinking about the city.