TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Yoshiko Ishiba, Japan's new first lady, is known for her gentle demeanor and enjoys even greater popularity than her husband in his hometown of Tottori in western Japan.

The couple met while studying at Keio University in Tokyo, where Shigeru Ishiba was immediately captivated by her beauty. After a spirited chase by him, they were wed in 1983.

She worked at Japanese trading house Marubeni Corp., which was then embroiled in a bribery scandal involving U.S. aircraft maker Lockheed Corp. and former Japanese Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka, a mentor of Shigeru Ishiba.

Tanaka, arrested and indicted over the scandal, humorously remarked at their wedding, "Marubeni is a good company. If not for my situation, it would be even better."

Yoshiko Ishiba, 68, who has long worked to build local support while Ishiba was away, shed tears of joy along with his supporters in a Tottori hotel when he was elected leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party on Sept. 27, setting himself on course to become prime minister.

"To build a better Japan, I ask for continued advice, not just praise," she said.