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RandySF

(79,978 posts) Thu Nov 13, 2025, 06:31 AM Nov 13

Japan's Leader Started a Meeting at 3 A.M. Then Came the Backlash.

Japan’s new prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, is known as an inveterate workhorse. She often skips social gatherings and has openly rejected the idea of work-life balance.

But even by Ms. Takaichi’s standards, it was surprising when she emerged from her Tokyo residence shortly after 3 a.m. on a recent day to convene a meeting with aides ahead of an appearance before Parliament.

Ms. Takaichi has drawn criticism for holding the meeting, which took place on Friday and has become known in the Japanese news media as the “3 a.m. study session.” The issue is especially sensitive in Japan, where there have been high-profile cases in recent years of karoshi, or “death from overwork.”

Some argue that the meeting, which involved several aides and lasted about three hours, would feed into unhealthy extremes. Others said that Ms. Takaichi was placing unnecessary burdens on her staff.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/12/world/asia/japan-takaichi-work-overtime.html

5 replies

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Japan's Leader Started a Meeting at 3 A.M. Then Came the Backlash. (Original Post) RandySF Nov 13 OP

Note RandySF Nov 13 #1

Well, if you are a fan of anime, you know that Japanese men get Isekai'd by one of two means... Ferrets are Cool Nov 13 #2

Well, that's like one in the afternoon here, so no problem! Orrex Nov 13 #3

Hegseth's drunkenly groping strippers at 3:00 AM. sop Nov 13 #4

. dalton99a Nov 13 #5

RandySF

(79,978 posts)

1. Note

Reply to RandySF (Original post)

Thu Nov 13, 2025, 06:36 AM

Nov 13

I don't know what the backlash is about because I recently read about a Japanese software engineer who wpild sleep at her desk for a few hours at night and start a new shift,

Ferrets are Cool

(22,467 posts)

2. Well, if you are a fan of anime, you know that Japanese men get Isekai'd by one of two means...

Reply to RandySF (Original post)

Thu Nov 13, 2025, 06:54 AM

Nov 13

Truck-kun or over-work.

Orrex

(66,428 posts)

3. Well, that's like one in the afternoon here, so no problem!

Reply to RandySF (Original post)

Thu Nov 13, 2025, 07:09 AM

Nov 13

sop

(16,943 posts)

4. Hegseth's drunkenly groping strippers at 3:00 AM.

Reply to RandySF (Original post)

Thu Nov 13, 2025, 07:39 AM

Nov 13

dalton99a

(91,267 posts)

5. .

Reply to RandySF (Original post)

Thu Nov 13, 2025, 08:09 AM

Nov 13

Ms. Takaichi, who took office last month as Japan’s prime minister — the first woman to serve in that role — has sought to clarify the circumstances of the meeting. She has said that her fax machine at home was jammed (faxes are still a mainstay of communication in Japan). She decided to go to the prime minister’s residence — she has not yet moved in — so that she could review briefing materials there ahead of a 9 a.m. budget meeting at the Diet, Japan’s Parliament.

Ms. Takaichi, speaking to Parliament on Friday, acknowledged that her early-morning preparation had “caused inconvenience” to her staff. But she said it was necessary to meet so early to rewrite drafts of answers for lawmakers on a variety of issues.

Ms. Takaichi’s supporters have defended her. Some in her party, the Liberal Democratic Party, have blamed opposition lawmakers for submitting questions too late.

“Even a workaholic like Prime Minister Takaichi wouldn’t want to be at work at 3 a.m.,” Midori Matsushima, an L.D.P. lawmaker, wrote on X.

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