TOKYO, Aug 22: Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said Saturday she uses her official residence near her office as a workplace, in an apparent response to views that she tends to seclude herself in her house.
In a series of posts on X, Takaichi also said she has not seen ghosts inside the residence, which is often rumoured to be haunted, but that she has encountered a cockroach despite doing the household work herself.
Takaichi, who became prime minister last October, moved into the residence located next to the prime minister’s office in late December.
“I have created an environment to work both at the office and the official residence. This has allowed me to make necessary judgements and take responses swiftly, be it early in the morning or at night or on holidays,” Takaichi said.
She has tried to use her official residence more often to “reduce the burden on staff at the prime minister’s office,” because doing so requires fewer security and other personnel.
While media outlets report that she spent “the whole day at the official residence,” she said, “I perform the necessary duties.”
Takaichi has seen her public support slip in recent opinion polls, while she pushed for key agendas, including a revision of the Imperial House Law that maintains a male-only succession system and a temporary reduction in the consumption tax on food items.
Despite topping last year’s buzzword list, her pledge to “work, work, work, work and work” made after being elected head of the ruling party caused a stir.
It prompted criticism from those calling for workstyle reforms and a better “work-life” balance.
In July, she also said on X, “Zero to three hours of sleep has become the norm” since becoming premier, adding that she spends her nights reviewing documents until dawn while doing household chores.
The official residence is where Prime Minister Tsuyoshi Inukai was assassinated in a coup attempt in 1932 and the primary site of another failed coup four years later.
Some of the people who were killed during the coup attempts, known respectively as the May 15 Incident and the February 26 Incident, are said to haunt the building, which dates from the late 1920s.
“I myself have never encountered ghosts, but I screamed when I saw a cockroach,” the prime minister said, adding that she was “shocked” to see it.
— BERNAMA-KYODO