Japan’s Minister of Digital Affairs, Sanae Takaichi, recently caused a stir with her controversial and unorthodox sleep schedule. She asserts that she can get by on only two to four hours of sleep per night! At a recent legislative diet committee meeting, Takaichi had an unconventionally honest conversation about her sleep with members of parliament. She opened up, “I’m down to sleeping two hours, four hours at most.” Her admission raises incredibly disturbing questions regarding her own work-life balance as Japan continues to struggle with a national culture of overwork.
In Japan, workers average approximately seven hours of sleep on weekdays, according to a study released on World Sleep Day in March. That average is 38 minutes shorter than the equivalent international benchmark, on average. It is well short of the sleep duration in OECD countries such as the United States, Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy, and Canada. Takaichi, on the other hand, sleeps little. This illustrates the struggle that countless Japanese workers experience as a result of an intense work culture that frequently requires grueling work hours along with after-hours company socializing.
Yet Takaichi’s position is doubly precarious, given her crowded agenda just weeks after assuming office. She attended an ASEAN summit in Malaysia within days of her appointment and has hosted significant diplomatic engagements, including welcoming former U.S. President Donald Trump for a state visit and meeting Chinese President Xi Jinping at the APEC summit in South Korea. At a minimum, Takaichi is further entrenching herself in a big-power rivalry with China. She was talking about the implications that Japan could become militarily involved in a potential cross-strait conflict.
From other politicians, there have been serious concerns expressed about her health and fitness to serve. Ken Saito, a former economy minister of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, went public with his alarm. He revealed that he was “genuinely concerned” about Takaichi’s health, as she has been getting very little sleep. Katsuhito Nakajima, an opposition MP, urged her to prioritize sleep for the sake of her health and effectiveness in office. Our citizens echo this sentiment in spades. Perhaps this is because they know all too well the toll that sleep deprivation exacts on productivity and quality of life.
Takaichi’s answer to calls for more self-care has often involved simply nodding and smiling when asked to get more sleep. Then, as now, Charlotte’s devotion to an exacting standard of hard work shines through. At the last committee meeting, to prove she takes her job seriously, she said, “work work work work and work.”