Occupational Physician Rebukes Prime Minister Takaichi for “Boasting About Not Sleeping” With “3 Hours of Sleep”! The National Risks Posed by a Leader Unable to Delegate Authority

“Three Hours of Sleep” Poses a National Risk

At a press conference on the 27th, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi emphasized the achievements of the extraordinary session of the Diet, which adjourned on July 25, noting that all 64 bills newly submitted by the government had been enacted.However, behind the scenes as important bills—such as the amendments to the Imperial House Law and the Code of Criminal Procedure, which are considered to “divide public opinion”—were passed one after another, there were likely quite a few citizens who felt deep anxiety and distrust.

This is because, shortly after 10 p.m. on July 20—Marine Day—Prime Minister Takaichi posted on her X (formerly Twitter) that “Since taking office as Prime Minister, sleeping 0 to 3 hours has become the norm,” causing a stir.

Criticism erupted online, with comments such as, “Please don’t decide the nation’s future on a sleep-deprived mind,” and “This is proof that she lacks self-discipline.” The story was even reported by foreign media, with many expressing disbelief, asking, “Can she really make sound judgments on so little sleep?”

“It is said that on the morning after an all-nighter, your attention span drops to the same level as when you’ve been drinking. When sleep deprivation becomes the norm, judgment deteriorates, emotional control breaks down, and you become emotionally unstable. It poses a serious risk to the nation for its leader to be constantly sleep-deprived, ”

So says Dr. Masashi Omuro, an occupational physician with over 20 years of experience.

“When I was a resident, it was standard practice for doctors to go straight back to work after an on-call shift, and it wasn’t uncommon for surgeons to perform operations after pulling an all-nighter. But if you or your family were to undergo surgery, would you entrust your life to a doctor who hadn’t slept more than three hours a night for days on end? You wouldn’t want to board a plane piloted by a sleep-deprived pilot, would you? 

The Prime Minister is the ‘pilot of the nation.’ Isn’t it only natural to feel that we wouldn’t want to entrust the helm of the nation to someone who is in a state as if they’ve just pulled an all-nighter every single day? ” (Dr. Omuro; same below)

The “Brain Glitch” Plaguing Prime Minister Takaichi

Prime Minister Takaichi is currently 65 years old. According to the sleep guidelines set forth in “Healthy Japan 21 (Third Phase),” the national health promotion campaign, the recommended amount of sleep for those aged 60 and older to be considered “adequate” is 6 to 8 hours. The Prime Minister is falling far short of this.

To begin with, is it even possible for a human being to go “0 to 3 hours of sleep per day” for several days in a row?

“Basically, you can only last a few days on 0 to 3 hours of sleep. I suspect that the Prime Minister is unconsciously taking ‘microsleeps’ (momentary sleep lasting a few seconds to over ten seconds) while listening to parliamentary responses or while traveling.It was said that Minoru Mino often fell asleep during commercial breaks on live broadcasts, wasn’t it? That’s the kind of state he’s in. 

There’s an anecdote that Napoleon—whose legend of sleeping only three hours a day endures—used to sleep while riding his horse. Famous figures known for short sleep cycles often get short bursts of sleep here and there. However, that kind of sleep doesn’t restore the brain’s decision-making ability.”

You’d think the Prime Minister would naturally feel drowsy or tired as well.

“Animals stop moving when they get tired. Even cheetahs stop hunting. But when humans are engrossed in something or feel a heavy sense of responsibility, their brains enter a state of arousal that masks the body’s fatigue signals. You could say this brain mechanism has been the driving force behind human evolution. However, it also comes with serious side effects.  

Karoshi (death from overwork) is directly influenced by this function. The person has absolutely no awareness of their own fatigue until one day, suddenly, they collapse. November is designated as “Karoshi Prevention Awareness Month,” and recently, there has been an increase in discussions about this brain mechanism as well.”  

“I believe Prime Minister Takaichi is currently in a state of complete euphoria, driven by the excitement of having ‘become prime minister’ and the immense responsibility that comes with it. Compared to ordinary people, isn’t she less likely to realize that she is tired? ”

That said, isn’t it problematic for the leader of a nation bearing such grave responsibilities to be unable to assess even his own health calmly and objectively?

“Even I don’t get sleepy at all on the release day of Dragon Quest, even if I’ve been up all night. However, I know that ‘right now, signs of fatigue are hidden inside my body, and I’m essentially in the same state as if I were drinking an energy drink.’ 

This is a bug unique to humans. What sets humans apart is our ability to understand these brain mechanisms and take proactive measures. I don’t recommend just plowing ahead thinking, ‘I’m not tired, so I’ll be fine.’”

Boasting About Overwork Is Uncool: A “Showa-Era Old-Timers”

The trend of treating “lack of sleep” as a heartwarming story or a heroic feat is now a thing of the past. Yet Prime Minister Takaichi, who herself admits to having “something of a Showa-era small-business owner about her,” still seems to regard sacrificing sleep for work as a virtue.

“It should be easy to imagine that, in this day and age, if someone in the position of prime minister publicly declares that they ‘aren’t sleeping,’ they would face criticism from both medical and social perspectives. 

The tragic incident involving Matsuri Takahashi occurred in 2015, the ‘Work Style Reform-Related Laws’ were enacted in 2018, and bookstores are now lined with books on sleep. If she were even slightly attuned to this social context, she would have realized that boasting about sleep deprivation sends the wrong message.”

Having made that point, Dr. Omuro analyzes that Prime Minister Takaichi’s X post reflects an excessive reaction against the prevailing social norms of the times.

“ The Prime Minister has publicly described herself as a ‘Kansai auntie,’ hasn’t she? I think there’s also a side to her where she’s gained popularity by sharply cutting through social niceties—much like Emiko Uenuma—and speaking her mind candidly. I suspect that this time, too, she posted partly in the spirit of pushing back against the ‘Work-Style Reform’ that’s all about appearances. I can’t help but feel that’s the case.”

In response to the Prime Minister’s post, some small and medium-sized business owners have reportedly expressed delight, saying, “It’s become easier to speak our minds—that people who want to work should be able to.”

“However, this doesn’t mean the old mindset of working even at the expense of sleep. I feel that an athlete-like mindset—where working itself is fine, but you should make sure to get enough sleep—has become quite widespread among small and medium-sized business owners. 

There are almost no bosses left who force the ‘grit’ mentality—telling subordinates to ‘work without sleeping’—onto their staff. It’s clearly plummeted over the past decade.”

The Limits of Leaders Who Try to Shoulder Everything Alone

In this post, the Prime Minister also wrote, “On the weekends since July began, I’ve been reading through thick documents from early morning until late at night,” and “I was swamped with work until dawn, reviewing the final draft of a document ahead of a Cabinet decision.”

“Perhaps he simply wants to say, ‘I’m working this hard.’ But just as subordinates find it difficult to leave when their boss stays at the office late, even if the Prime Minister has no such intention, it can still come across as intense pressure to those around him.Posts claiming, ‘I’m working from early morning until dawn,’ are by no means a positive message—neither for the public nor for the bureaucrats working under him.”

In response to his tireless work ethic, some businesspeople have voiced cynical comments, describing him as “the classic example of an inept boss who shoulders everything alone and doesn’t know how to manage an organization or delegate to subordinates.”

“ He also says in the Diet, ‘I carefully read through the written responses and make the corrections myself.’ I suppose he just likes reading documents, and I think he’s a very diligent person. 

However, no matter how diligent he is as an individual, it’s impossible for him to handle all the duties of the prime minister by himself. If he doesn’t delegate authority appropriately, he’ll definitely burn out. For example, the reason he can’t entrust work to bureaucrats is probably because he hates the idea of them failing after he’s given them the task.”  

The public generally views the ability to tolerate such uncertainties as one of the key qualities of a leader. What about Prime Minister Takaichi? While she may be an excellent player, I can’t help but feel she has some challenges as the head of an organization.”

Prime Minister Takaichi has no experience leading her own faction within the Liberal Democratic Party; she has been appointed to key positions, such as cabinet minister, thanks to the strong backing of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, whose political beliefs align closely with her own. Dr. Omuro views her career path as one of the reasons for her lack of skill in leading an organization.

“Because she lacks experience in leading an organization, she is inexperienced in that regard, and it feels as though she has no choice but to shoulder the entire scope of the prime minister’s vast responsibilities on her own. Perhaps she should consider restructuring her management system.”

His “Showa-era” workaholic style—spending night after night marking up mountains of documents with a red pen while simultaneously posting lengthy messages on X—is no longer a source of praise but a risk to the nation.

“There was a time when major business deals were sealed over drinks at nighttime gatherings. 

Today’s business leaders are different. They get a good night’s sleep and make important management decisions in the morning, when their minds are sharpest. That is the trend and common sense.”  

I hope that Prime Minister Takaichi, too, will make decisions that could determine the nation’s fate with a clear head after a good night’s sleep. As an occupational physician and as a citizen, that is my sincere wish.”

▼ Masashi Omuro, occupational physician. Representative of the Omuro Occupational Medicine Office. Graduated from the School of Medicine at the University of Occupational and Environmental Health in 2005. After serving as the Chief Occupational Physician at Johnson & Johnson and working in the Occupational Medicine Department of the Doyukai Medical Corporation, he became independent in 2018 and assumed his current position.He currently provides occupational medicine services to approximately 30 companies. His book, *Inside Companies Where Overwork Leads to Suicide: An Occupational Physician’s Perspective* (Shueisha Shinsho), is available.