Miyuki Hatoyama, the wife of Democratic Party of Japan President Yukio Hatoyama, speaks during an interview in Tokyo August 10, 2009.
TOKYO - Move over Michelle Obama. There's a new first lady turning heads in the fashion world: the Japanese prime minister's wife, Miyuki Hatoyama, has been voted one of the nation's best looking women celebrities in jeans.
Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's 66-year-old wife won the "Best Jeanist" award for wearing jeans "in a classy but innovative style," according to the Japan Jeans Association.
"Thank you. I've been long aware of this award and wished I would win it someday thinking 'I'm also a jeans lover.' So, I'm very grateful for giving me this honorable award today," Miyuki said after winning the award at the Japan Fashion Week.
The prize is offered to celebrities who best represent what the organizers call the "spirit of jeans."
Defining the winner as pioneering, strong, environmental and energetic, a panel of judges said the first lady wore jeans in a neat and innovative way that was appropriate for the aggressive nature of jeans.
The new Japanese first lady has made headlines in the past for tales of her alien encounters: in a book published last year, she wrote about an extraterrestrial experience some 20 years ago when she said her soul rode on a triangular-shaped UFO and went to Venus while her body was asleep.
Miyuki, also known for her culinary skills, spent six years acting in the Takarazuka Revue, an all-female musical theater group. She met the U.S.-educated Yukio while living in America.
