Hirotada Ototake, a Japanese author has confirmed allegations by a tabloid that he engaged in extra- published.
Speaking to reporters from the Shukan Shincho, Ototake admitted that he went to Paris and Tunisia in December with a woman in her late 20s.
“There were sexual relations,” he admitted, before confessing to having a further four relationships since his marriage in 2001. Ototake and his wife, Hitomi, have three children.
In an effort to quell the storm of indignation, Ototake has replaced his web site with a message expressing his “unworthiness” and regret for causing “inconvenience to many people.”
“My conduct towards my wife, who has supported me this far, and others who have helped my career is an act of betrayal that cannot be forgiven,” he wrote.
He added that after speaking with his wife, Ototake said he is willing to “spend the rest of his life attempting to make amends.”
His wife added a message to the same page, but it has come in for fierce criticism in certain circles.
“I feel that the blame for this situation partly also lies with me,” she wrote, adding that she also regrets the “inconvenience” caused to others.
“Those comments have gone down very badly with women, and particularly women who had perhaps been impressed by Ototake in the past but now feel betrayed by what has happened,” said Makoto Watanabe, a lecturer in communications and media at Hokkaido Bunkyo University.
“The feeling is that she was forced to release that statement because Ototake wants to stand in the summer elections,” he said.
“The revelations of the affair were bad enough. But then her taking the blame in an attempt to lessen his responsibility has made it much worse.”
The famed author gained stardom in 1998 when wrote No One’s Perfect, his true-life story of struggling to get on in Japanese society after being born with no arms or legs.
The publication of the book won him admiration and respect and he became a frequent commentator on television shows before forging a career in sports journalism and teaching.
Ototake was famous for zipping around in a custom-built wheelchair with a big smile, despite being born with tetra-amelia syndrome, while his book became the third best-selling book released since the war in its first year in print.