In a blow that could further humiliate the scandal-tainted ruling party, disabled celebrity author and educator Hirotada Ototake, rumored to be tapped for an election run with the Liberal Democratic Party, apologized Thursday for committing adultery following a report by a tabloid magazine.
"My action reported by the magazine amounts to a betrayal against my devoted wife and my supporters, and it's absolutely unforgivable," he said in a statement after the tabloid reported his infidelities. Ototake, with no arms and legs due to a congenital disease, had come to symbolize those with disabilities in Japan.
Also in his statement, he admitted to what he described as "a sin so serious I can never fully atone for it while alive."
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