When Japanese Prime Minister Kou Shiho visited South Korea in May, she discussed the haunted rumors at the prime minister's residence with President Lee Jae-myung. She also said that "strange sounds are heard every night," and her remarks sparked heated discussions.
On August 22nd, Gao posted two articles on the social media platform X, discussing his official residence. In these articles, he claimed that he had never seen any ghosts, but had seen cockroaches.
"I have never seen a ghost, but a few days ago, I screamed because I encountered cockroaches," she wrote.
She said that when she lived in the parliamentarian’s dormitory before, she never encountered cockroaches. After moving to the official residence, she kept herself very clean and tidy. “So when one day a cockroach ran past my feet, I was really shocked.”
Koguchi also said that since he read Kenji Tachibana's classic work "Phoenix", the concepts of reincarnation and eternal life deeply influenced him. Therefore, "even as an adult, he could never be heartless enough to kill even a cockroach."
According to her, after the secretaries learned that there were cockroaches in the official residence, they organized a 'major campaign to eliminate cockroaches'. Since then, cockroaches have never appeared again.
But she also said, “I felt relieved, but at the same time, I felt a bit lonely and sad…”
According to Kansai TV, Gao has been posting lengthy articles on social media for many days in recent times, promoting her 'work achievements' or responding to criticisms of her economic and other policies. During the period from August 1st to 18th alone, she posted 47 articles on X, each of which was very long, with some exceeding one thousand words. Analysis suggests that these actions reveal Gao's urgency.
On the 21st, Gao posted a message on X, quoting former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and the content of the "Analects" - "A people without trust cannot stand."
Japan's Asahi Shimbun states that this statement is seen as a response by Koizumi to the declining support rate of his cabinet.
Since July, the support rate for Minister Kaisho Asami's government has continued to decline. According to a poll by The Yomiuri Newspaper, the support rate for Kaisho's government dropped sharply from 69% in June to 57%, a decrease of 12 percentage points, hitting a new low since she took office. The disapproval rate rose to 34%.
According to a report by Nihon Kei China website on August 21, the Japanese government and the ruling party believe that the Koshi cabinet will undergo its first restructuring and personnel adjustments at the high level of the LDP in mid-to-late September. Kyodo News also reported that Koshi intends to use personnel updates to reverse the decline in his popularity.
It's worth mentioning that Gao has made misleading statements on social media several times recently.
On July 20th, Gao Shifa wrote a long letter expressing her grievances. She said that she was not only busy with her work but also spent a lot of time doing household chores. She particularly mentioned that she slept less than 3 hours per day. She listed in detail the household chores she did, including cleaning the bathroom, cooking, washing dishes, and doing laundry, and continued working until late at night.
However, this seemingly "grounded" statement elicited strong negative reactions from many Japanese citizens.
Among them, a Japanese netizen said, “It’s terrifying that someone could think such things can be used as a promotional point, and that this level of thinking exists among Japan’s top leaders.”
