Operation Combat: How Japan PM Sanae Takaichi dealt with cockroach chaos

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said she has not encountered any ghosts at the official residence, but recently found herself unable to kill a cockroach that appeared there. She linked her hesitation to ideas about reincarnation that have stayed with her since childhood.She recounted the episode on X while answering a question she said she often receives about whether she has encountered ghosts at the residence. “I’ve never encountered a ghost, but until recently, I was the one screaming when I came across cockroaches,” she wrote.‘Firebird’ shaped her responseTakaichi said she has read Osamu Tezuka’s Firebird repeatedly since childhood and that its depiction of reincarnation made a deep impression on her. The idea that “life is connected, changing forms” stayed with her as she grew older.She said that may be why she still cannot bring herself to kill insects, including cockroaches.