Takaichi shared the unusual experience on X on August 22 while responding to a frequently asked question about whether she had encountered the ghosts reportedly said to haunt the prime minister’s official residence.
The 65-year-old leader said she had never seen any ghosts but had instead encountered cockroaches inside the residence.
According to Takaichi, she was shocked when a cockroach suddenly ran past her feet despite her efforts to keep the residence clean.
She said she regularly wiped the floor beneath her dining table, disposed of food scraps in a covered bin and washed and sorted plastic containers.
Takaichi explained that she could not bring herself to kill the cockroaches because of the influence of Japanese manga artist Osamu Tezuka’s Phoenix, which explores the concept of reincarnation.
Her secretaries, however, were reportedly alarmed when she told them about the cockroach problem.
One of them reportedly said, “It’s unclean. I’ll handle it,” before arranging pest control at the official residence.
Following the intervention, the cockroaches stopped appearing.
Although Takaichi said she was relieved that the pest problem had been resolved, she admitted that their disappearance also left her with an unexpected feeling of loneliness.
“I felt relieved, but also a little lonely, or maybe sad,” she said.
The revelation comes as Takaichi has also attracted attention for increasingly using the official residence as a workplace. She said living next to her office allows her to avoid commuting and makes it easier for her to respond immediately to emergencies.
Post a Comment