Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroshige Seko, a key aide to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and politician Kumiko Hayashi of the Democratic Party of Japan recently got married, secretaries to the lawmakers said Wednesday.
It is rare for a senior official in the prime minister's office to marry someone from the opposition camp. Neither plans to change party affiliation, the secretaries said.
At a news conference later in the day, Seko, who belongs to the Liberal Democratic Party, declined to comment on the marriage and said it was a private matter.
Seko, 50, a former PR chief for NTT Corp., is one of Abe's key PR strategists. Hayashi, 41, was a former TV newscaster in Shiga and is now education minister in the DPJ's shadow Cabinet.
Both are members of the Upper House and submitted their marriage registration documents on Sept. 2, the secretaries said.