Japan's prime minister found a cockroach in the official residence and said removing it felt "lonely"

Japan's prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, said in a candid X post that life at the top can be lonely after she discovered a cockroach in the official prime minister's residence and chose not to kill it because she thought it might be "part of a long cycle of reincarnation."

When her staff found and removed the insect, Takaichi wrote that she felt "relief, but also a small loneliness, or perhaps sadness."

Residence as workplace

The 65-year-old moved into the prime minister's official residence in central Tokyo in December. Known for an intense work ethic, she has publicly sparred with Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin, sought closer ties with Donald Trump and Giorgia Meloni, and often emphasizes that she sleeps only a few hours a night.

Following the Trump example she described as that of an "extremely good friend," Takaichi frequently communicates directly with the public via X.

In a separate post she explained why she prefers to work from the residence rather than the prime minister's office: "I am making an effort to actively use the prime minister's residence, because that way I can reduce the number of staff and security personnel, including the special police, who need to be deployed."

She has repeatedly underlined the desire to keep the circle around her as small as possible. In July she said she had finally "managed to sleep five hours for the first time in a long while," after it had become her habit to sleep "from zero to three hours" since taking office.

Her posts come after reports that she has sometimes avoided attending parliamentary sessions and has spent a large share of her time at the residence. Since becoming prime minister, she has also held the fewest cabinet sessions of any Japanese prime minister from 2012 onward.

Photo: EPA/KIM KYUNG-HOON / POOL