Japanese PM's scolder-in-chief breaks the mould for political wives

The old adage that behind every successful man stands a strong woman rings less true in the world of Japanese politics. Here, the power-brokers - who are overwhelmingly male - still prefer their wives to stay in the shadows and perform the functions of a doting wife and devoted mother.

Nobuko Kan, however, speaks her mind, has written a book that is spikily critical of her husband, Naoto, who just happens to be the prime minister, and is credited with guiding the nation's leader in some of his most important decisions.

In short, she has no intention of adhering to other people's conventions. And Japanese politics is arguably much the better for what was already an unconventional 40-year marriage between the Kans.

'I'm not really known for being very supportive and I basically scold and scold and scold until I think I've said too much and then I pull back,' Nobuko Kan said at a press conference ahead of the opening of the Democratic Party of Japan's annual convention yesterday.

'He has even told me, on more than one occasion, that even though he gets attacked in the Diet, it's much better that he goes there to be criticised than to be abused at home,' she added, without a hint of irony.

Born in a small town in rural Okayama Prefecture in October 1945, Nobuko Kan first arrived in Tokyo at the age of 18 to attend the prestigious Waseda University. She spent some of the time living at the family home of Naoto, her first cousin, and the friendship developed into a relationship that both sets of parents initially opposed because they were related. It was an early indication that the couple had no qualms about taking a path that conservative Japanese society might frown upon.