Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said on Thursday she only sleeps for between two and four hours every night, while she also faces criticism for encouraging people to overwork.
The revelation about how little she sleeps came after Takaichi raised eyebrows last week by arranging a 3am staff meeting in her office to prepare for a parliamentary session.
“I sleep about two hours now, four hours at the longest. I feel it’s bad for my skin,” she told a legislative committee, where she had been asked about the importance of reducing Japan’s notoriously long work hours.
Japan has long struggled to strike a healthy work-life balance, with many workers facing heavy pressure at the office.
It even has a word— “karoshi” — for people who die from overwork.
Takaichi was also asked to explain her government’s discussions about possibly extending the upper limit on overtime work in order to encourage economic growth.
She defended the discussion, saying that workers and employers have different needs. Some people choose to work two jobs to make ends meet, she said, while businesses impose strict limits on overtime.
Takaichi stressed that any change would ensure that workers’ health would be protected.
“Indeed, if we can create a situation where people can properly balance childcare and caregiving responsibilities according to their wishes, and also being able to work, enjoy leisure time, and relax — that would be ideal,” she said.
Takaichi came to power last month as Japan’s first woman prime minister.
She pledged after her election as the head of the Liberal Democratic Party to “discard the term ‘work-life balance’ for myself. I will work, work, work, work, and work”.
She has since kept a busy calendar, attending regional meetings as well as holding bilateral talks with US President Donald Trump, Chinese President Xi Jinping and South Korean President Lee Jae-myung.
