In recent weeks, we’ve been talking a lot about Iwata-san, a book published by Earthbound creator Shigesato Itoi that looks back on the life and work of Satoru Iwata. One portion of the book includes a new interview with Shigeru Miyamoto, who looks back on his lost friend. IGN has translated the feature, which you can find below.

“To me, he was a friend more than anything. It never felt like he was my boss or that I was working under him. He never got angry; we never fought about anything. Normally, if someone younger than yourself with fewer years of experience becomes president, it might be difficult to get along with each other, but it was never like that. It had always been obvious that he was more suited for the position (than me), so it never became a problem. I think it allowed us to naturally become true friends.”

Miyamoto took a moment to look back on one of the first meals he shared with Iwata, who was still at HAL Lab at the time. The two went out for a bowl of ramen together after work. That one night out lead to a life-long tradition.

“Nintendo doesn’t pay for social expenses, so we had to go Dutch on the bill. That became a tradition that lasted even after he became company president and I became an executive.”

Finally, Miyamoto shared some words on how Iwata lives on in Nintendo to this day, as well as how he misses having Iwata around.

“Since he passed away, Nintendo has been doing just fine. He left many words and structures that live on in the work of our younger employees today. The only problem is that, if there is some good-for-nothing idea I come up with over the weekend, I have no one to share it with the next Monday. That I can no longer hear him say ‘Oh, about that thing…’ is a bit of a problem for me. It makes me sad.”