Nakahara makes world debut as Japan `first lady'

Nakahara makes world debut as Japan `first lady'

By Makiko Tazaki

TOKYO (AFP): The 37-year-old daughter of Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama made her debut on the world stage as Japan's "first lady" this weekend, accompanying her father to South Korea on his first official visit.

Yuri Nakahara, the mother of two young children, is the 70- year-old Murayama's second daughter and has been his secretary for more than 10 years.

"She's a cheerful, lively and sociable kind of lady," said Ryuji Yagi, a socialist party official who has been living with the 70-year-old Murayama since he moved into the prime minister's official residence in Tokyo on July 4.

Murayama's wife Yoshie, also 70, suffers from chronic back pain and is mostly confined to the family home in Chiyomachi, a former fishing village which is now an industrial town in southern Japan.

As a result, the prime minister's daughter "will be accompanying her father on his future overseas visits as well," Yagi told AFP.

Since her father's election as Japan's first socialist prime minister in 47 years, Nakahara has been looking after her father, preparing his favorite dishes, washing his clothes and arranging his outfits.

But Yagi said the prime minister had "recently got a maid to do household chores," leaving more time to his daughter to engage in official duties.

The emergence of Murayama's daughter as "first lady" recalls the role played two decades ago by the daughter of prime minister Kakuei Tanaka, the powerful and corrupt kingmaker of the Japanese political world who died last December.

Makiko Tanaka, who also accompanied her father overseas, is now a member of the Murayama cabinet, serving as head of the science and technology agency.

But the lifestyle of the Social Democratic Party chairman is in stark contrast to that of the former boss of the conservative Liberal Democratic Party, who lived in a grand house in central Tokyo.

Murayama's home in southern Japan is a modest wooden building without even a fence or a gate. Before becoming prime minister, he stayed in a dormitory for members of parliament when forced to remain in Tokyo.

His life in the capital is also simple. Nakahara said in a magazine interview earlier this month that she had to tell her father what to put on as he would be otherwise be wearing the same suit and tie everyday.

When Murayama moved into the official residence earlier this month, he reportedly brought with him only a set of "futon" bedding for the floor, and enough suits and underwear to last for several days.

"Nakahara will be moving into the official residence with her husband and two children soon, after the children's schools and other matters are sorted out," Yagi said, adding that Murayama loves playing with his six-year-old grandson and five-year-old granddaughter.

A Japanese first lady's traditional role is basically to accompany her husband abroad on official visits to foreign countries.

Apart from appearing at official Japanese receptions given for foreign dignitaries, the wife of the prime minister has virtually no other role. Depending on their personalities, some achieve prominence in women's magazines.

Almost all of them complain about the difficulties of living in the prime minister's crumbling official residence -- which is one of the reasons why Murayama's daughter is moving in.