Photo/Illutration Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi listens to a question during the Lower House Budget Committee session on Nov. 7. (Takeshi Iwashita)

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has so far lived up to her pledge to “work like a horse,” but both ruling and opposition lawmakers have expressed concerns that her pace could harm her health.

In preparations for her first appearance before an influential Diet committee on Nov. 7, Takaichi left the Diet members’ dormitory and entered the Prime Minister’s Official Residence shortly after 3 a.m.

She spent about three and a half hours with her secretaries and other staff members preparing for the Lower House Budget Committee session, which was set to begin at 9 a.m.

Budget Committee proceedings involve a series of back-and-forth questions and answers between the prime minister and lawmakers from both ruling and opposition parties.

Although prime ministers and their secretaries commonly begin preparations early in the morning, starting at 3 a.m. is unusual.

When she was elected president of the Liberal Democratic Party on Oct. 4, Takaichi told party lawmakers: “I will have everyone work. I will have you work like horses.

“I myself will discard the term ‘work-life balance,’” she continued. “I will work, work, work, work, and keep on working.”

On the Budget Committee floor, Takahiro Kuroiwa from the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan raised concerns, saying, “I imagine some staff members worked throughout the night drafting responses.”

Takaichi said she had difficulties receiving draft answers at the dormitory, citing problems with a fax machine, and that she moved to the official residence around the time that those answers would be ready.

“Because I kept making revisions myself, I am afraid that I inconvenienced the secretaries who helped me, the security detail and the driver,” she said.

When Kuroiwa suggested that she move from the dormitory to the official residence, Takaichi replied: “I want to move once the series of events settles down. Right now, not only do I not have time to pack, but I am working in a situation where I can hardly get any sleep.”

Takaichi, who took office on Oct. 21, has proposed new policies, such as easing the limits on the types of defense items that can be exported.

Ahead of her first full-fledged Diet debate, she personally spent considerable time revising responses prepared by government ministries, which an aide described as “tending to be bound by precedent.”

A senior government official said Takaichi had put corrections in red ink everywhere in the prime minister’s draft answers to questions for plenary Diet sessions held on Nov. 4-6.

“She is probably the type of person who cannot rest easy unless she checks everything herself,” the official said.

Immediately after taking office, Takaichi instructed officials to examine easing regulations on working hours.

During Diet debates, opposition lawmakers said such moves could encourage excessive work and even “karoshi,” or death from overwork.

While stating that she does not condone overtime that leads to karoshi, Takaichi said the government should deepen discussions based on the realities of how people work and the needs for deregulation.

During the Budget Committee session, Ken Saito of the LDP voiced concern for the prime minister’s health.

“You say you will work, work and work,’ but honestly, I am a little worried,” he said. “Please make sure to slack off skillfully when you can.”

When Katsuhito Nakajima of the CDP urged her to get enough sleep, Takaichi nodded with a smile.

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