Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has shared an unexpectedly amusing story about a cockroach encounter at the official residence in Tokyo, revealing that she felt both relieved and strangely lonely after her staff eliminated the insect.
The 65-year-old prime minister recounted the unusual experience in a lengthy post on X on Saturday, August 22. The anecdote came as she responded to some of the questions she frequently receives about life inside the prime minister’s official residence.
Among the questions was whether she had encountered the ghosts reportedly believed to haunt the historic building.
While Takaichi said she had never seen a ghost, she revealed that she had encountered something considerably more tangible — a cockroach.
Japanese PM says she has never seen ghosts
The official residence in Tokyo has long been surrounded by stories of paranormal activity. According to longstanding accounts, the building is believed by some to be haunted by individuals who died during attempted coups in Japan in the 1930s.
Takaichi, however, said she had experienced no supernatural encounters since moving into the residence.
“I’ve never encountered a ghost, but until recently, I was the one screaming when I came across cockroaches,” she reportedly wrote.
Her story quickly took a humorous turn as she explained how the insect unexpectedly appeared despite her efforts to keep the residence clean.
Cockroach suddenly appeared in her home
Takaichi recalled that she had never encountered cockroaches while living in a members’ dormitory.
After moving into the official residence, she said she took several precautions to maintain a clean environment.
She explained that she regularly wiped the floor beneath the dining table, placed food scraps inside a sturdy garbage container with a lid and carefully washed and sorted plastic containers.
Despite those efforts, a cockroach eventually appeared.
“I was shocked when, one day, a cockroach suddenly scurried past my feet,” she said.
The unexpected visitor presented Takaichi with a dilemma because she said she could not bring herself to kill it.
Prime Minister says she could not kill the insect
Takaichi attributed her reluctance partly to her childhood love of manga, particularly Osamu Tezuka’s Phoenix, a work known for exploring themes of life, death and reincarnation.
She explained that the themes had influenced her thinking about living creatures.
“Maybe because of that, even now as an adult, I can’t bring myself to kill insects, cockroaches included,” she wrote.
When she spotted the cockroach inside the official residence, she reportedly considered the possibility that the creature might simply leave on its own.
“Maybe this life is also part of that long cycle of reincarnation,” she recalled thinking.
Rather than immediately eliminating the insect, she allowed it to remain in the residence for some time.
That changed when members of her staff discovered what was happening.
Staff launched ‘Operation Combat’
Takaichi said her secretaries were alarmed when they learned that a cockroach was roaming around the official residence.
One staff member reportedly told her that the insect was unclean and offered to deal with it.
The prime minister described the subsequent effort to eliminate the cockroach humorously as “Operation Combat.”
After staff members took action, Takaichi said she did not see any more cockroaches inside the residence.
However, the end of the unexpected encounter produced an emotional reaction she apparently did not expect.
‘I felt relieved, but also a little lonely’
Although Takaichi was relieved that the cockroach was gone, she admitted that she also experienced an unusual feeling of sadness.
“I felt relieved, but also a little lonely, or maybe sad…” she wrote.
Her confession added an unexpectedly human touch to the otherwise unusual story, giving social media users a glimpse into the personal side of life inside Japan’s highest political office.
The anecdote also highlighted Takaichi’s unusual approach to insects, particularly her belief that she should avoid killing them whenever possible.
Rather than presenting the incident as a serious political matter, the prime minister used the story to answer a lighthearted question about her experiences at the official residence.
Takaichi reveals more about life at official residence
The cockroach story came shortly after Takaichi explained in another post on X that she had increasingly been working from the prime minister’s residence, which is located next to her office.
Her comments have offered followers a rare glimpse into her daily routine away from formal political announcements and government affairs.
For many social media users, the story may have been surprising because of the contrast between Takaichi’s position as Japan’s prime minister and her inability to deal with a common household pest.
Her reaction also provided an unusual reminder that even world leaders can have everyday fears, personal beliefs and unexpected emotional responses.
The story has since attracted attention because of its combination of politics, humor and an unusually sympathetic attitude toward a creature many people would immediately want removed from their homes.
For Takaichi, however, the cockroach was apparently more than just an unwanted pest. Her reluctance to kill it was influenced by her personal philosophy and childhood connection to stories about reincarnation.
And while her staff ultimately ensured that the insect was no longer a problem, the prime minister was left with an unexpected feeling of loss — proving that even the smallest encounters can sometimes leave a memorable impression.
Read more about Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s comments on her official residence and the unusual cockroach encounter in The Associated Press report.
