The 65-year-old Japanese prime minister recently answered various questions about her official residence in Tokyo on X, formerly known as Twitter.
One user asked whether she had ever seen a ghost inside the official residence, which has reportedly been the subject of several ghost stories.
Takaichi said she had never seen a ghost in the halls of the residence, but recently screamed after spotting a cockroach.
She went on to share the details of the unusual incident. Takaichi said she had never encountered a cockroach while living in accommodation provided for members of parliament.
She explained that after moving into the prime minister’s official residence, she carefully cleaned the floor under the dining table and threw away food scraps. One day, however, a cockroach suddenly passed close to her foot, leaving her shocked.
The prime minister said she did not try to kill the insect because she has been a fan of the Japanese manga Phoenix since childhood, which features the theme of rebirth.
She said this may be why she has never killed insects, including cockroaches. According to Takaichi, after seeing the cockroach, she thought that perhaps “this life too is part of the long cycle of rebirth.”
Instead of killing it, she left the cockroach in the room and walked away. Takaichi said she tolerated the situation for some time, hoping the cockroach would eventually move somewhere else. However, when she told her secretaries about it, they became frightened.
She said one of her secretaries eventually organized an operation to deal with the cockroach.
After that, Takaichi said she did not see another cockroach at the residence. However, she admitted that along with feeling relieved, she also felt somewhat lonely and sad. I felt relieved, but I also felt a little lonely and perhaps sad, she said.
