There are rumours all over Japan that the official residence of the Japanese Prime Minister is haunted. Meanwhile, Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has expressed his desire to visit his official residence on Friday. However, he has not yet announced the date due to security reasons. When he was asked about the ghosts in a press conference, his answer was that I am not particularly afraid. I would like to go there as soon as possible. It may be scary to actually see something. But this is not something we are worried about.

The prime minister was assassinated here

The Prime Minister's residence was built in 1929. However, at that time it was the Prime Minister's office. The two-storey building is spread over about 5,183 square meters. The design of the building is largely inspired by the Imperial Hotel. The official residence of the Prime Minister of Japan has also witnessed many violent incidents. The building also witnessed a military coup in 1932. At that time, naval officers assassinated the then Prime Minister Tsuyoshi Inukai in this building.

The building is a witness to the military revolt

In 1936, this building witnessed another military revolt. Five people were killed in the revolt by bullets. The then Prime Minister Keisuke Okada saved his life by hiding in a closet. After a long gap, the Japanese government planned to renovate this grand and historical building. The entire building has been given a modern and grand look at a cost of about 8.6 billion yen. In 2005, this building was officially declared the official residence of the Prime Minister.

Former PM's wife mentioned

Due to violent incidents, the building is associated with ghosts. Yasuko Hata, wife of former Japanese Prime Minister Sutomu Hata, shared her experiences at the residence in her memoir in 1996. She said that we felt a terrible and oppressive presence in the building. She also claimed that she saw the spirits of military officers roaming in the garden at night.

Former PM said to Shinzo Abe- we saw ghosts

Former Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori once told Shinzo Abe that he had seen ghosts at his residence. The ghost story gained further credence due to Shinzo Abe's delay in moving into the residence in 2013. In 2021, Japanese PM Kishida vacated his official residence. But when he was asked about ghosts, he replied that he had not seen any ghosts. He sleeps well at night.

So this is why Abe did not stay here

Shinzo Abe was Japan's longest-serving prime minister. He chose to live in his private house in Tokyo's Shibuya district instead of the official residence. It is believed in Japan that before Abe's first term from 2006 to 2007, six prime ministers chose to live in this building. But their tenure could not last more than a year and a few months. This is also believed to be one of the reasons behind Abe not living here.