It is confusing to discover that Kayako Hosokawa has three offices in a building in Tokyo's Kasumigaseki. Two are neighbors -- "so convenient," she observes, nipping to and fro. The other is on the fifth floor, below. It is even more confusing to learn she has a fourth office, in Kumamoto, close to the family home, and that her husband -- former Prime Minister Morihiro Hosokawa -- lives in Yugawara, Kanagawa Prefecture.
Kayako came into prominence as the first wife of a prime minister to play a visibly active role in her husband's career. He may have bowed out of politics, but nowadays she wears so many hats (metaphorically, that is; in reality she has only two) that she is forever on the run. Still she has such a clear focus, backed by a spring of exuberance and energy, that she juggles her busy life with ease.
Her most important role is chairwoman of the Special Olympics Nippon (SON), for the mentally challenged. This is sometimes confused with the Paralympics for the physically challenged, usually held just after the Summer or Winter Olympic Games.