Sanae Takaichi, the prime minister of Japan, claimed on Thursday that she only gets two to four hours of sleep each night. She has also come under fire for pushing workers to put in excessive amounts of labor.
Takaichi aroused eyebrows last week by setting up a staff meeting in her office at three in the morning to get ready for a parliamentary session, which led to the revelation about how little sleep she gets.
“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.
A healthy work-life balance has long been difficult to achieve in Japan, where many employees are under a lot of pressure at work.
It even has a word for overwork-related deaths: “karoshi.”
In order to promote economic growth, Takaichi was also asked to clarify her government’s talks about perhaps raising the maximum amount of overtime.
She defended the conversation by pointing out that employers and employees have distinct demands. According to her, some people decide to work two jobs in order to make ends meet, and companies place stringent restrictions 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.
*
Email *
Website
