The prime minister spends hours putting on her make-up - not having time to think about Japan's future

It was during a question in parliament last week that Japan's first female prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, explained how busy her schedule is. The question was about how she sees Japanese prime ministers spending more time, five to seven hours per day, answering questions in parliament than political leaders in most other countries.

Takaichi has previously said that she spends evenings and weekends reading "mountains" of documents to be able to answer parliamentarians' questions. As a rule, she sleeps zero to three hours a night, she has claimed on X.

Now she pointed out that as a woman there are also other musts that eat up her time.

- In the morning I bathe, cook breakfast and wash the dishes, and not to forget, do my makeup, Takaichi said in parliament, adding that she probably spends three to four hours more than her male representatives on household tasks.

Takaichi said he likes to sit up and read answers to questions from parliamentarians in the evenings. At the same time, she noted, there is hardly any time left to think about the country's future and what kind of society Japan should be.

The hearing revived the gender equality debate in Japan, which is a country where men occupy most of the leading positions. When Takaichi looks out over the parliament, she sees mostly men. Only 68 out of 565 members are women.

At the same time, she is hardly a standard bearer for women's rights. On the contrary, she belongs to the conservative branch of her party LDP and stands behind Japan's traditional gender roles. A society where men are responsible for the main income and often work overtime while the woman takes care of the home, children and aging parents.

Takaichi has opposed proposals to change the male line of succession in the Imperial House, despite the acute shortage of male heirs to the throne. She has also defeated motions about married couples being allowed to have different surnames.

In interviews, she has said that she takes care of her sick husband, cooks and cleans. When a long weekend with red days fell in Japan, Takaichi devoted herself to ironing underwear, sewing loose buttons in blazers and doing laundry, she wrote X.

However, the statement in parliament struck a chord with women in Japan who feel pressured by an unofficial dress and appearance code. They must wear make-up, but not too heavily, they must wear skirts that go down to the knees, they must wear heels and preferably no glasses. The governor of Tokyo, Yuriko Koike, has been forced to apologize several times in recent years for forgetting to wear lipstick at press conferences.

At the same time, some question why Takaichi spends so much time putting on make-up. They accuse her of submitting to an outdated female stereotype, as if it were a law of nature.