John M. Glionna (LA Times, 9/5/09)
SEOUL - She's a quasi political player, an eccentric former entertainer whose intense spirituality is ripe for tabloid fodder. She claims she knew actor Tom Cruise in a former life and once visited the planet Venus in a triangular spaceship.
Miyuki Hatoyama, the wife of newly elected Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, is a free-spirited woman whose views are drawing Western attention since her husband's Democratic Party of Japan swept into power in a historic leadership change last weekend.
The 66-year-old Hatoyama, a former singer-dancer in an all-female theatrical troupe and the ex-wife of a Japanese restaurateur in California, met the new prime minister, now 62, while he was studying engineering at Stanford University.
In Japan, she established herself as a "life composer" or lifestyle consultant who makes her own clothes, including a dress fashioned from hemp coffee bags. On the campaign trail, she demonstrated a passable Michael Jackson moonwalk.
Despite her recent high profile, few Japanese know much about her. Still, she has been busy.
She has written several books, including "Top of Form Bottom of Form Miyuki Hatoyama's Spiritual Food" and "Miyuki Hatoyama's Have a Nice Time."
And there was a collection of celebrity interviews titled "Amazing Events I Have Encountered" in which Hatoyama discussed an extraterrestrial jaunt she says she took during her first marriage.
"While my body was sleeping, I think my spirit flew on a triangular-shaped UFO to Venus," she said. "It was an extremely beautiful place and was very green."
Her book editor, Shunsuke Tsuchiya, said in an interview with The Times that Hatoyama was misunderstood. He said the incident "happened while she was sleeping. It was just a vivid dream."
Tsuchiya described Hatoyama as a very social and straightforward woman with a wide range of interests, including spirituality.
"She does tend to like spiritual topics. She says things like, 'If you're with me, it won't rain.' She can be misunderstood. When you see what she has said in writing, it might be surprising." More>>
