TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker Shinjiro Koizumi and TV personality Christel Takigawa said Wednesday they will get married.
The 38-year-old son of former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and Takigawa, a former anchorwoman known as the multilingual presenter in Tokyo's 2013 Summer Olympic and Paralympic bid, told reporters they are also due to have a baby early next year.
Takigawa, 41, and Koizumi said they decided to make the announcement after her condition stabilized in the second trimester.
Koizumi, who is serving his fourth term in the House of Representatives, is seen as a potential future prime minister. On Wednesday they visited the current Japanese leader, Shinzo Abe, at his office to inform him of the news.
Koizumi studied at Columbia University and served as a fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank.
His elder brother Kotaro is an actor.
Koizumi said Abe congratulated him on his approaching marriage, adding that the prime minister told him he had informed Koizumi's father when he was getting married.
"When I am with Christel, I can escape the battlefield called politics," Koizumi said at the prime minister's office while pledging to make sure his wife has a tranquil atmosphere at home until the baby is born.
Takigawa, whose father is French, said in a post on her official Instagram account she met Koizumi as a friend several years ago and their relationship evolved into a close partnership last year.
"I hope we can create a relationship of a husband and a wife in which we can encourage each other like soul mates," Takigawa wrote.
