Japan’s First Lady

choi

Yuka Hayashi, Meet the Prime Minister of Japan’s Most Intimate Critic; First Lady isn’t shy about jabbing her husband; Pajama photos. Wall Street Journal, Dec 7, 2013
online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB20001424052702303755504579207354013053522

three consecutive paragraphs:

"Mrs Abe's blunt public statements reflect, in part, the surprising freedom and informality political families have in Japan, where American-style handlers and image-makers remain relatively rare.

"She isn't Japan's first first lady to make waves. Miyuki HATOYAMA 鳩山 幸 [miyuki 御幸/行幸 (n,v): "imperial outing or visit"] drew notice with a book published the year before her husband [鳩山 由紀夫] took office in 2009, describing her abduction by aliens 宇宙人. ('While my body was asleep, I think my soul rode on a triangular-shaped UFO and went to Venus,' she wrote). Nobuko KAN 菅 伸子, the wife of another recent leader [菅 直人], published a book addressed to her husband titled "What Could Possibly Change If You Were Prime Minister?"

"Days after Mr Abe started his first, short-lived term as prime minister in 2006, Mrs Abe surprised the public by holding her husband's hand as they disembarked the plane on his first overseas trip. Such a display of affection had rarely been seen among Japan's public figures.


Note:
(a) The report has been translated into Japanese:

Yuka Hayashi, 政策批判もためらわない日本のファーストレディー、安倍昭恵さん. ウォール・ストリート・ジャーナル日本版, Dec 9, 2013.
jp.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304468904579247521121776060.html

(b) “"In her establishment [pub], with just two dozen seats and a narrow open kitchen, she serves customers her organic ‘Akie Rice’ 昭恵米 grown in her 'Akie Paddy' 昭恵農園 located back in the prime minister's own rural district."

(c) Akie ABE “runs a tiny pub named ‘UZU,’ or ‘Tidal Swirl,’ hidden among the back streets of a dowdy Tokyo commercial neighborhood.”
(i) Akie ABE  安倍 昭恵 (1962- [8 years junior to her husband]; Born Akie MATSUZAKI 松崎 昭恵; her father is the former president of Morinaga & Co 森永製菓株式会社 [founded in 1899 by MORINAGA Taichirō 森永 太一郎; sister corporation of 森永乳業株式会社, both based in Tokyo], one of Japan's largest confectionery companies; In the later of 1990s, Abe worked as a radio disc jockey in her husband's hometown of Shimonoseki 山口県 下関市)
English Wikipedia

The Chinese and Japanese pronunciation of the kanji 恵 is “kei” (meaning a long vowel of “ke”) and “e” (as in English verb “let”), respectively.
(ii) married and maiden names
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Married_and_maiden_names
(section 1.15 Japan: “In Japan, marriage law requires that married couples share a surname because they must belong to the same koseki (戸籍 household). Although it is customary for the wife to join her husband's family and thus take his surname, the husband may instead join his wife's family and take her surname. The latter is customary if the wife's family have no son”)
(iii) uzu 渦 【うず】 (n): "whirlpool; swirl; eddy; vortex; maelstrom"
(iv) dowdy (adj): “lacking smartness or taste <a dowdy room>"
www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dowdy

(d) "Fans rallied to defend her photo of Mr. Abe feeding a piece of meat with chopsticks to the childless couple's dog, a miniature dachshund named Roy, after someone accused the prime minister of holding the utensils improperly, branding it an insult to Japanese culture."
(i) The dog’s name is written in katakana: ロイ(pronounced “roi”)
(ii) I try very hard in vain to locate that photo of Mr Abe feeding Roy with chopsticks 箸 (pronounced “hashi”). Here, however, is a photo of Mr Abe holding a pair of chopsticks:

【韓国】 安倍首相夫人の安倍昭恵さん、高円宮妃久子様 キムチ作りで日韓交流. ニンジャ速報, Dec 7, 2013 (blog).
ninjyaoh.blog.fc2.com/blog-entry-6549.html

* ニンジャ is katakana for “ninja.”
* I have a confession to make: I have never learned how to properly use chopsticks.

(e) "Ikuo GONOI, a political scientist who has analyzed Mrs Abe's influence"

WSJ's own translation: "高千穂大学の 五野井 郁夫 准教授"
(i) fukuiku 馥郁 【ふくいく】 (adj, adv): "fragrant; sweet-smelling"
(ii) Takachiho University is a private university in Tokyo, established in 1903.
(iii) 高千穂
ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/高千穂
("日本神話に出てくる地名。天孫降臨の地とされる")

translation: A place name out of Japanese mythology, where Tenson descended

* tension-kōrin 天孫降臨 【てんそんこうりん】 (n): "the descent to earth of the grandson of the sun goddess"
* 天孫 is the grandson of the sun goddess.

(f) "She invited a Journal reporter to her practice session of naginata, a type of Japanese fencing. There, she sported a white cotton kimono paired with black baggy trousers, as she lunged at her opponent—the wife of another former prime minister—with a long wooden sword, giving a quick shout to express fighting spirit."
(i) naginata  薙刀
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naginata
(ii) "She sported a white cotton kimono paired with black baggy trousers"

WSJ's own translation: "白い綿の着物と黒いはかまを着た昭恵さん"

はかま  hakama
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hakama
(Hakama are worn over [on top of; outside] a kimono)