Japan's leader Takaichi explains why she spends long hours in seclusion at her official residence

TOKYO (AP) — Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who is increasingly seen secluding herself at home, said on Saturday that she is using her official residence next to her office more for work to maximize efficiency.

In December, Takaichi moved into the official residence, a brick-and-stone mansion that opened in 1929 used to be the original prime minister’s office until its replacement was built right next to it.

Takaichi said on X that living in the official residence, or “kotei,” is good because its proximity requires no commute and lets her immediately get down to work in time of an emergency.

Takaichi said she has reinforced office functions at the residence so she can work and have meetings there remotely or in person with her staff whenever needed, even after office hours. She also takes home documents to read.

“To me, the official residence is also a workplace,” she said.

But Takaichi, whose work mantra and her recent revelation on X of zero to three hours of sleep at night because of her homemaking burden on top of her heavy workload as prime minister, triggered criticisms that Japan's first female leader was setting a wrong example for a work-life balance and gender-equality.

Takaichi has seen her support ratings rapidly drop as she pushed unpopular policies such as a revision to the Imperial House Law to reinforce a male-only succession system, while delaying economic measures to address rising prices.

Media reports have said that Takaichi was avoiding parliamentary sessions and largely holed up at the residence at night and on weekends, saying that she's having significantly less interactions and communication with other lawmakers and officials than her predecessors. Takaichi frequently posts comments and policies on X instead of talking to the media.

The official residence was the site of two bloody coup attempts in the 1930s, and legend has it that the building is haunted by ghosts.

Takaichi apparently doesn’t mind spending long hours at the residence despite that.

“I’ve never seen a ghost, but I have often screamed because of my encounters with cockroaches,” she said. “I was shocked when a cockroach ran past my feet.”

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi speaks to reporters during a doorstep at the prime minister's official residence in Tokyo, Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026. (Yuki Sato/Kyodo News via AP)

FILE - The Prime Minister's official residence is seen in Tokyo in February 1978. (AP Photo, File)

This photo shows an exterior image of the prime minister's office in Tokyo, Jan. 6, 2011. (Kyodo News via AP)

Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi enters her prime minister's office in Tokyo, Friday, Aug. 21, 2026. (Keisuke Hosojima/Kyodo News via AP)

ZANDVOORT, Netherlands (AP) — Lando Norris beat his rivals and the weather to take pole position for the Dutch Grand Prix on Saturday after George Russell took a sprint race win on Formula 1’s return from its mid-season break.

As rain started to fall on the Zandvoort track, McLaren’s Norris made the most of his final run to reclaim pole by 0.102 of a second from Russell, whose Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli was third.

Lewis Hamilton lost ground to Antonelli in the standings in the sprint race. His difficult day continued with fifth in qualifying.

The sprint race was a display of domination from Russell, who started from pole position, quickly built a gap to Norris in second and managed the pace from there, taking his first win since the Austrian Grand Prix in June.

“Obviously a great start to the weekend,” he said.

Charles Leclerc snatched second off Norris with a daring pass into the inside of the first corner with six laps to go, but couldn’t get close enough to try passing Russell.

Norris held off a late charge from Antonelli to stay third as the Italian standings leader pulled out of a potential overtaking move on the final lap.

“We just don’t have the pace in general, especially in the slow-speed corners,” Norris said.

Fourth-place Antonelli, starting fifth after car damage in qualifying, still managed to extend his standings lead by three more points to 53 because Hamilton could only manage seventh for Ferrari.

F1 still hasn’t had a wet race this year but came tantalizingly close as rain fell as the drivers were heading back to the pits, seconds after the sprint finished.

“If there was one more lap it would have been a very, potentially, different end to the race so I’m glad the rain came when it did,” Russell said.

While it stayed dry, overtaking was difficult, even in a year where the cars’ electrical power has made back-and-forth passes common. The overtakes by Leclerc and Antonelli were the only changes of position anywhere in the top 11 finishers.

See AP’s full auto racing coverage here

McLaren driver Lando Norris of Britain in action during sprint race at the Formula One Dutch Grand Prix in Zandvoort , Netherlands, Saturday, Aug. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

Mercedes driver George Russell of Britain in action during sprint race at the Formula One Dutch Grand Prix in Zandvoort , Netherlands, Saturday, Aug. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

Mercedes driver George Russell of Britain leads at the start during sprint race at the Formula One Dutch Grand Prix in Zandvoort , Netherlands, Saturday, Aug. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

Mercedes driver George Russell of Britain in action during sprint race at the Formula One Dutch Grand Prix in Zandvoort , Netherlands, Saturday, Aug. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)