Japan’s “1st Gentleman” Vows to Support New PM Takaichi

Tokyo, Oct. 21 (Jiji Press)–The election of Sanae Takaichi as Japan’s first female prime minister on Tuesday placed her husband, Taku Yamamoto, as the country’s first male spouse of the prime minister, or “first gentleman.” Yamamoto, 73, told Jiji Press by phone that he is “relieved” that his wife was elected prime minister. He said that he and his wife will be even more considerate of each other’s health. “I’ll support her as a low-key ‘stealth’ husband,” he said. Yamamoto has served eight terms as a House of Representatives lawmaker since being first elected to the lower chamber of the Diet in 1990. Both Yamamoto and Takaichi belonged to the Liberal Democratic Party’s faction led by former Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori. In 2004, after Takaichi lost her Lower House seat, Yamamoto proposed to her by phone, saying, “I can make you delicious meals for life because I have a cook’s license.” They married that year and became a lawmaker couple after Takaichi won back a seat in the 2005 Lower House election. The couple currently lives in the accommodation facility for Lower House members in Tokyo’s Akasaka district. Knowing that Takaichi is not good at cooking, Yamamoto has told her, “The kitchen is my castle, so you don’t have to come in.” In 2017, the two divorced, citing differences in their political stances. Nevertheless, Yamamoto backed Takaichi when she ran in the 2021 LDP leadership election. After Yamamoto lost his Lower House seat in the subsequent general election, they remarried. At the time, they played rock, paper and scissors to decide on Takaichi as their officially registered family name. Yamamoto ran as an independent in last October’s Lower House election but lost. After that, he suffered a cerebral infarction. Takaichi currently supports his rehabilitation. Yamamoto was born in Sabae, Fukui Prefecture, in July 1952. His father was the city’s mayor. He has three children with his former wife. His eldest son, Ken Yamamoto, is a Fukui prefectural assembly member. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]