TOKYO: Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi (pic) has defended her tendency to stay at her residence unless she has official duties outside, saying it allows her to work long hours without putting an excessive burden on her staff.
"Work conducted at the official residence, such as meetings held there, are not reported as part of the prime minister’s daily schedule, but from my perspective it’s also a workplace,” Takaichi wrote on X on Saturday (Aug 23).
Since becoming national leader late last year, Takaichi has become well known for a round-the-clock working style and a preference for poring over documents alone at her residence. In July, she wrote on X that she gets only "zero to three” hours of sleep each night.
The Nikkei newspaper reported on Friday that Takaichi has spent more than half of her time during Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays at her residence since becoming prime minister.
A Bloomberg News analysis of her official schedule through July showed she met finance ministry officials 50% less often than the country’s previous two leaders, and held the fewest cabinet office meetings of any premier over the past 14 years.
She also talks less to the media less than her predecessors, instead preferring to post regularly on X. That direct appeal to voters and the contrast in her leadership style to the slow-moving consensus-based style of some of her predecessors are among the factors that helped her secure a historic election landslide in February.
Still, her lone wolf style has made her the target of criticism by some opposition lawmakers and media commentators, some of whom have highlighted her preference of staying at her residence, near the prime minister’s office. Her opinion poll ratings have also fallen from elevated levels, with respondents citing her focus on passing legislation they see as detached from the need to address the cost-of-living crunch.
In her X post on Saturday, Takaichi highlighted how she focuses on work while at her residence.
"I have created a working environment that is essentially no different from when I am working at the Prime Minister’s Office,” she wrote.
She added that she tries to maximise the time she spends at her residence to reduce the amount of time that she has to be accompanied by personal security officials, known as "SP officers.”
"On holidays, as well as early in the morning and late at night on weekdays, I try not to leave the Official Residence unless it is absolutely necessary. That is because whenever I go out, it requires a substantial number of SP officers and places a considerable burden on them,” she wrote.
Takaichi moved into the official residence in December, a brick building dating from 1929 that previous prime ministers have joked may be haunted. In a separate post on X on Saturday, Takaichi said she hadn’t seen any ghosts but she was shocked by encountering cockroaches in the building.
After a secretary arranged for insect poison to be used around the building the cockroaches have stopped appearing, Takaichi said.
"I was relieved, but somehow also felt a little lonely, even a little sad...,” she wrote. - Bloomberg
