Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi moves into the official residence, a site linked to historical coups and reputed ghost sightings.
TOKYO: Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has moved into the prime minister’s official residence, a building with a reputation for being haunted.
The country’s first woman premier transferred into the stone-and-brick mansion in central Tokyo on Monday, more than two months after taking office.
She had been staying in parliamentary accommodation but faced criticism for taking 35 minutes to reach her office after a major earthquake in early December.
Takaichi, 64, came to power pledging to “work, work, work, work and work”, and has said she is too busy to sleep more than two to four hours a night.
Her new residence, opened in 1929, was the site of two attempted coups in the 1930s where several top officials including a prime minister were assassinated.
At least one bullet hole remains in the building, and the ghosts of those involved are believed by some to roam the hallways.
Her predecessor Shigeru Ishiba, who lived there after a 2005 renovation, said he was not afraid of ghosts.
Former premier Fumio Kishida reported seeing no phantoms and sleeping soundly during his tenure.
Shinzo Abe and Yoshihide Suga both lived elsewhere, leaving the residence unoccupied for nine years until 2021.
