The revelation that the head of Japan's third largest opposition party, Yuichiro Tamaki, has been having an affair with a former gravure model, Miyuki Koizumi, sparked a media frenzy at the start of this week. The tabloids have continued to pump out stories about the affair, much of which is just speculation. Of course, adulterous politicians is a story as old as the hills but this one has has longer legs because Tamaki is so prominent right now (his party arguably holds the keys to keeping the minority Liberal Democratic Party government in power) -- and this is surely why the tabloids ...

We are used to Japanese politicians, both male and female, having affairs with hostesses, party workers, foreign musicians, and even other lawmakers. But what about gravure idols? In a case that recalls Kensuke Miyazaki, who had advocated for fathers to take paternity leave but was caught having an affair with a gravure model while his wife (another lawmaker) was giving birth, a tabloid has broken a scoop on Democratic Party for the People leader Yuichiro Tamaki, who is alleged to have been having an affair with a former gradol. Flash has revealed that the 55-year-old Tamaki has been ...