During an interview with the Asahi Shimbun news article, he said "If I quit smoking and went back to work in entertainment, they would tell me that I would not be satisfied with something." Ishibashi didn't like how he was retired from the entertainment world. At that same year, Ishibashi has been active as a culinary researcher and since 1967, he has run a "Sangyo-dong" sake and side dish shop in , Shibuya, Tokyo (he took over the shop originally run by his father, Rando). 