MP Kensuke Miyazaki Resigns

On February 12, MP Kensuke Miyazaki (35) held a press conference and announced that he would resign as a member of Parliament due to a scandal over his affair with a female entertainer, recently reported by Shukan Bushun. Miyazaki is a member of Liberal Democratic Party serving in the Lower House of parliament for the third district of Kyoto.

Miyazaki said that he met the female entertainer, Mayu Miyazawa (34), when she helped dress him in a kimono for the opening of the parliamentary session in January. Miyazaki usually wears suits when he attends parliamentary meetings, but on this day, he wore a ceremonial kimono. (See the photo below.) It is difficult to clothe oneself in a kimono, so people usually pay a professional kimono dresser to assist them. While Miyazawa works as an entertainer, she has also studied kimono dressing and is a professional kimono dresser. After that initial meeting, they met three times in private.

His wife gave birth to their son on February 5, and was still in the hospital when he announced his resignation. Prior to the press conference, he visited her at the hospital to explain and apologize to her. Miyazaki reportedly told his wife that he did a very cruel thing to her. He stated that the primary reason why he decided to resign was that his careless actions had undermined his advocacy for male MPs taking child care leave. 

MP Kensuke Miyazaki (left) with his wife MP Megumi Kaneko (right)

The photo was taken in front of Parliament on January 4

The photo was retrieved from http://hazukinoblog.up.n.seesaa.net/hazukinoblog/image/E5AEAEE5B48EE8AC99E4BB8B28E5B7A629-thumbnail2.PNG?d=a0