Minister in ‘sexy yoga’ row

– Japan’s education minister apologised yesterday for using an official car to visit a yoga studio, but denied claims that the facility was offering “sexy private yoga”.

The row is the latest headache for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government, which is already under fire after two cronyism scandals and sexual harassment claims against a top finance ministry bureaucrat.

The Shukan Bunshun weekly magazine yesterday reported that Education Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi visited a yoga studio in the hip Ebisu district in Tokyo using a state car, and took private lessons there.

“I apologise for creating confusion amid a tense parliamentary situation,” Hayashi told reporters.

“As the government is facing severe rebuke and criticism, I will serve the public in a more disciplined manner. I should have drawn a line between the public and the private, even though this case was in line with rules.”

The magazine described the studio as a “sexy private yoga” studio run by a former porn actress that offers private lessons and oil massages. But the studio’s president denied she was ever a porn actress.

Hayashi said he was simply taking “regular yoga lessons and massages with finger pressure” for better health. –

Tokyo