As workers push for better work-life balance and four-day workweeks, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is moving in the opposite direction. The 65-year-old leader set off a firestorm on social media when she shared her plans for Sea Day—a public holiday when many Japanese citizens head to the beach.
“Today’s holiday felt like such a true blessing—finally getting a full five hours of sleep for the first time in ages,” Takaichi wrote on X in a post that’s garnered over 35 million views. “Ever since taking office as prime minister, zero-to-three hours has been the norm.”
For Takaichi, the lack of sleep and working “from early morning until late at night” is something she believes is largely a point of pride rather than a cause for concern. For the past several weekends, Takaichi added she’s been “holed up” at the prime minister’s residence reading stacks of documents tied to her legislative agenda.
Unlike in the U.S., the official residence of the Japanese prime minister does not employ domestic staff like housekeepers, so Takaichi said the holiday also gave her enough time to tackle a backlog of household chores, including ironing handkerchiefs and undergarments and sewing frayed skirt hems and loose jacket buttons.
