Tokyo, Japan(CNN) -- Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan is used to political lashings. But the latest one is not from an opposition party -- it's from his own wife.
In a book released this week titled, "What On Earth Will Change in Japan After You Become Prime Minister," first lady Nobuko Kan writes bluntly about her husband's shortcomings.
The book says the prime minister is unable to cook a simple meal and has no fashion sense.
But it's the blunt review of her husband's ability to govern that will raise eyebrows.
She writes that her husband -- a grassroots politician -- is a good off the cuff speaker and is suited to working in supporting political roles. But as the world's second-largest economy's prime minister, she questions, "Is it okay that this man is prime minister? Because I know him well".
Nobuko Kan says that her husband has trouble reading prepared scripts.
Of his policy speech as prime minister, she writes that she couldn't give him a passing grade for his delivery.
The marriage between the Kans spans four decades, and is widely regarded by the public as a pairing of equal minds. The prime minister speaks publicly about his sharp-tongued wife and how she is his toughest critic.
CNN
