日本首相夫人:下辈子不会嫁菅直人

Japan's outspoken first lady said Wednesday she would not marry Premier Naoto Kan again in another life, in a display of tough love to a husband already battling political rivals and low support ratings.

The prime minister's wife Nobuko Kan, 65, who is renowned for pulling few punches, admitted that she is not the kind of person who supports her husband through encouragement.

"I rather go for scolding and scolding. I pull back a little when I think I've been too severe," she told reporters when asked how she can support her husband when he is faced with criticism from media and opposition parties.

"He goes to parliament, telling me 'I hate (being grilled in) parliament, but it is easier than arguing against you'," said the woman Kan has called his "opposition in the home".

Nobuko last year published a book entitled 'What on Earth will change in Japan after you become prime minister?', which said Kan lacked dress sense, could not cook and had badly flunked delivering his first policy speech.

Nobuko said she would not marry Kan again if she was reborn.

"I wouldn't do it another time. The reason is that I have already lived this life and it's not fun to repeat the same thing. I would want to have a totally different life," said the unconventional first lady.

Kan took power in June last year as Japan's fifth premier in four years.

Public support ratings for Kan's cabinet have since tumbled to below 30 percent, amid public discontent over his centre-left government's management of economic and foreign affairs.

Nobuko quipped that she had told Kan there is a limit to just how bad things can get, telling him: "There is no such thing as a support rate below zero."

"Both of us may be too easy-going... but it is impossible (for Kan) to quit only because of low support ratings or bullying-like criticism," she said.

The couple, who are cousins, have been married for 40 years and have two sons who are both in their 30s.

言辞犀利的日本首相夫人菅伸子本周三称，如果有来生，她不会选择再嫁给菅直人。日本首相菅直人正为与政敌斗争以及低迷的支持率头疼不已，而首相夫人则在此时向他展示出自己的“严爱”。

日本首相夫人菅伸子现年65岁，以直言不讳著称。她坦承自己不是那种通过鼓励来支持丈夫的妻子。

在被问及当丈夫面对来自媒体和反对党的指责时如何支持他时，菅伸子告诉记者：“我宁可责骂他。但如果觉得过于严厉，我也会适当缓和语气。”

菅伸子说：“他经常去议会，还告诉我，‘我讨厌在议会上受指责，但这比和你争论容易多了。’” 菅直人称夫人是“家中的反对派”。

菅伸子在去年出版的名为《你当首相，日本会有何变化？》的书中罗列了丈夫的诸多缺点，比如穿衣品味差、不会做饭、首次施政演说也很失败等等。

菅伸子直言下辈子不会嫁给菅直人。

这位现代派首相夫人说：“我不会再嫁给他了。因为上辈子做过的事再重复就没有乐趣了，我希望下辈子能过上一种完全不同的生活。”

菅直人去年6月就任日本首相，成为日本近4年来的第5任首相。

由于对左派政府的经济和外交政策不满，菅直人内阁的民众支持率暴跌至30%以下。

菅伸子打趣称，她已经告诉丈夫，事情变糟总有个限度，“支持率总不可能跌成负数吧”。

她说：“我俩也许都太随和了，但是菅直人不可能仅仅因为支持率低迷或者蛮横的批评就辞职。”

菅伸子和丈夫是表亲，结婚已有40年，两个儿子都已经年过30。

Vocabulary:

pull punches: to act with restraint or hold back the full force or implications of something（委婉地批评，谨慎地行事）

grill: to subject to severe and persistent cross-examination or questioning（盘问，责问）