Distraught Uno Put to Bed by Colleagues : ‘He Freaked Out’ Over Reports of Affair With Geisha, Aide Says

Japan’s Prime Minister Sosuke Uno is so shaken by fresh rumors of his involvement in a squalid sex scandal that he had to be put to bed by ruling party elders, a party aide said today.

An employee at the prime minister’s residence and a party aide told Reuters Uno was put to bed Tuesday night by senior party members staying there to discuss the scandal.

“I thought he might have had a nervous breakdown last night,” the aide said.

“The whole thing is he freaked out over how he’s going to appear overseas at the (Paris) summit next month,” he said.

“He’s afraid those leaders won’t even want to shake hands with him.”

Uno, labeled “Mr. Clean” by the ruling party before the allegations of sexual misconduct surfaced, is due to attend a summit of the world’s seven top industrialized nations in the French capital in July.

Uno denied that he offered to resign Tuesday but was persuaded not to by Liberal Democratic Party elders. The public broadcasting network NHK and major newspapers said Uno made the offer after hearing of a magazine story about a new sex scandal.

Bernard Krisher, editor of the gossip magazine Focus, said he was called by Uno’s office late Tuesday about a report it will publish this week of Uno’s alleged affair with a 16-year-old apprentice geisha.

“His people denied the report, saying he couldn’t possibly have been involved since it costs too much,” Krisher told Reuters.

Josei Jishin, a women’s magazine, published a story Tuesday alleging Uno had an affair years ago with a bar hostess and he asked her to have an abortion.

Uno’s personal secretary, who declined to be identified, said: “Japan’s mass media write all kinds of things. I haven’t read it of course, but I’m sure it’s not correct.”

Local media said Liberal Democratic elders talked Uno out of resigning Tuesday night, arguing that it would mean domestic political chaos and a loss of international credibility.

Such fears sent Tokyo stock prices plunging today as investors worried that the Liberal Democratic Party’s 34-year grip on power was unraveling quickly.

Uno’s predecessor, Noboru Takeshita, quit in June because of his involvement in a scandal in which the Recruit publishing and telecommunications conglomerate allegedly gave away cash and cut-rate shares in return for political favors.