The average adult sleeps between 7 and 9 hours a night, but Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi says she gets less than three hours of shut-eye sparking a debate and concern.
In a post on X about how she spent a public holiday weekend, the prime minister wrote that she managed to have “five full hours of sleep for the first time in ages”.
Ms Takaichi said that was an improvement from her usual “zero to three hours” per night.
“On weekdays, by the time I get back to the residence, I’m maxed out on private time just handling bath cleaning, bathing, dinner, washing up afterward, laundry, and some light tidying,” she wrote.
“So the late-night hours after that get consumed until dawn with reading materials brought back from the Prime Minister’s Office or prepping for … question time.”
Ms Takaichi said the remainder of her free time was taken up by ironing handkerchiefs, getting on top of laundry and repairing clothing.
It may have been a lighthearted joke about the pressures of being a nation’s leader, but the post has startled Japanese citizens and set off a national debate about the hazards of lack of sleep in the top job.
“I think she should rest more,” Democratic Party for the People leader Yuichiro Tamaki told a news conference.
“Why doesn’t her entourage provide more support to create an environment in which she can make important decisions with a fresh mind?”
However, colleague deputy Foreign Minister, Ayano Kunimitsu, came to her defense.
“Each person has their own various circumstances and behind-the-scenes stories, and on the premise of fulfilling responsibilities in public duties, I would be grateful if you could understand,” she wrote on X.
分かります！涙。国光も下手なアイロンかけで何度手🖐️を焦がしたか。。
人の手を借りるのもありますが、家族に負担かけていますし、家族が人を入れるのを嫌がる場合もありますし、ついつい「それくらいはやらないと」となりがちですよね😌… https://t.co/rcdnen4AdO— 国光あやの 外務副大臣 衆議院議員 Ayano KUNIMITSU (@ayano_kunimitsu) July 21, 2026
Ms Takaichi is not the first world leader whose poor sleep habits have drawn attention.
Former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher got as little as four hours sleep a night, according to the BBC.
French President Emannuel Macron is known to get four to five hours per night and has a tendency to fire off messages to colleagues in the early hours of the morning, according to French media.
Former German chancellor Angela Merkel called herself the “sleep camel” in reference to her time in office, when she would get about four hours of sleep a night, ABC News Australia reported.
