TOKYO, Japan: Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said she felt “a little lonely” after staff removed a cockroach from her official residence, according to an X post on August 22.
Takaichi shared the story while answering questions from the public. One question concerned longstanding tales that ghosts haunt the prime minister’s residence.
She said she had never encountered a ghost. Instead, she recalled finding a cockroach inside the Tokyo residence. Takaichi said she could not bring herself to kill the insect.
She linked that reluctance partly to her childhood affection for Osamu Tezuka’s manga “Phoenix,” which explores reincarnation.
The prime minister said she initially left the cockroach alone and hoped it would eventually leave on its own.
Read: Japan PM Sanae Takaichi Moves Into Historic Residence Linked to Ghost Stories
However, staff intervened after learning about the insect. Takaichi said she did not see any other cockroaches in the residence afterwards.
She said the outcome brought relief but also an unexpected emotional reaction.“I felt relieved, but also a little lonely, or maybe sad,” Takaichi wrote on X.
