posted April 06, 2010 03:04 AM         

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The new first lady of Japan has described receiving a visit from a UFO and meeting a Hollywood actor in a past life.

Miyuki Hatoyama and her incoming Prime Minister husband Yukio Hatoyama have been propelled into the global media spotlight by his sensational election win.

Mr Hatoyama - who is nicknamed "the alien" - scored an historic victory on Sunday, booting the ruling party out of office for the first time since 1955.

His wife has spoken publicly of an apparent alien visit, and said she was taken to a "beautiful place" two decades ago.

"While my body was asleep, I think my soul rode on a triangular-shaped UFO and went to Venus," she wrote in a book called Very Strange Things I've Encountered.

Her then-husband told her it was probably a dream, but she said she thinks her current spouse, Mr Hatoyama, would not have been so dismissive.

Mrs Hatoyama cuts a flamboyant figure in the Japanese media. She has worked as a cookery writer and an actress, and often appears on television chat shows.

During one programme, she claimed she became friends with Hollywood actor Tom Cruise after meeting him in a previous incarnation.

"He was Japanese in his past life, and we were together so when I see him, I will say, 'Hi. It's been a long time,' and he will immediately understand," the 66-year-old explained.

Mr Hatoyama, the grandson of a former prime minister, is expected to be confirmed as the country's next leader on September 16.

His Democratic Party of Japan toppled the Liberal Democratic Party in last week's vote, ending an unbroken stint of more than 50 years in power.