Japan’s PM says she felt ‘lonely’ after staff removed cockroach from home
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said she felt “a little lonely, or maybe sad” after staff removed a cockroach from her official residence, Qazinform News Agency correspondent reports.
In a series of posts on X, Takaichi said she had never encountered a cockroach while living in parliamentary housing, but began seeing them after moving into the official residence late last year. She said she kept the home clean, including regularly wiping the floor under the dining table, washing plastic containers and using a tightly sealed trash can for food waste.
When a cockroach ran past her feet, Takaichi said she was shocked and screamed. However, she decided not to kill it because of her long-standing affection for Osamu Tezuka’s Phoenix manga, which she has read repeatedly since childhood.
The manga explores the idea of reincarnation and the continuity of life. Takaichi said this influenced her so deeply that she still cannot kill insects, including cockroaches.
She initially hoped the cockroach would leave on its own. Her secretaries, however, reportedly told her that it was unhygienic and arranged what she called “Operation Combat,” using a cockroach control product. The insect did not appear again.
“I was relieved, but felt a little lonely, or maybe sad,” Takaichi wrote.
Takaichi also explained why she has been making extensive use of the official residence, which stands next to the Prime Minister’s Office. She moved there for security reasons and to ensure she could receive information and make decisions quickly at any time.
The residence has meeting rooms and communications facilities that allow her to hold remote meetings with foreign leaders, record messages for official events and meet with secretaries. She said she brings most of the documents she can read there from the office and conducts meetings either in person or remotely.
Takaichi said working from the residence also reduces the workload on government staff and security personnel. On weekdays, she tries to move from the Prime Minister’s Office to the residence as early as possible, while avoiding unnecessary outings on weekends and during early mornings and late evenings.
Earlier, Qazinform News Agency reported that Sanae Takaichi had drawn mixed reactions with a social media post lamenting chronic sleep deprivation and her demanding workload.
