Photo Credit: Sanae Takaichi via X (formerly Twitter) / Pulse Nigeria
Japan PM Sanae Takaichi Says She Befriended Cockroach at Official Residence Because of Loneliness
Japan’s first female Prime Minister, Sanae Takaichi, has made an unusual confession — she became attached to a cockroach living in her official residence because she was lonely.

The 65-year-old leader shared the story in a series of posts on X (formerly Twitter) after she was asked if she had encountered ghosts rumoured to haunt the prime minister’s official residence in Tokyo.

Her response: “I’ve never encountered a ghost, but until recently I was the one screaming when I came across cockroaches.”

Takaichi said despite keeping the residence very clean, a cockroach once ran past her feet and she couldn’t bring herself to kill it.

She explained that her refusal comes from a childhood belief in reincarnation inspired by Firebird, the famous manga series by legendary creator Osamu Tezuka.
“Maybe because of that, even now as an adult, I can’t bring myself to kill insects, cockroaches included,” she wrote.
Instead, she endured living with it, thinking “maybe this life is also part of that long cycle of reincarnation,” and hoping it would leave on its own.

The situation changed when she mentioned it to her secretaries. One of them reportedly said firmly, “It’s unclean. I’ll handle it,” and arranged for what staff jokingly called “Operation Combat.”

After the pest was removed, Takaichi admitted she had mixed feelings: “After that, the cockroaches stopped appearing. I felt relieved, but also a little lonely, or maybe sad.”

The confession also shed light on her demanding work style. Takaichi said she prefers working from the residence to reduce the burden on staff and security personnel, and often works with only one secretary present when needed.

The prime minister is known for working extremely long hours, previously revealing she was surviving on zero to three hours of sleep per night since taking office.

The posts come as she faces growing public criticism, falling approval ratings over rising living costs, reports that she spends more than half her weekends and public holidays at the residence, and that she has held fewer cabinet meetings than any Japanese prime minister since 2012, according to Bloomberg.

Still, it was her cockroach story that got people talking online — a rare glimpse into how lonely life at the top can be.

Source: Pulse Nigeria –