On October 4, 2025, after winning the election for president of the Liberal Democratic Party, Takaichi Sanae said: Watashi jishin mo wāku raifu baransu to iu kotoba o sutemasu. Hataraite hataraite hataraite hataraite, hataraite mairimasu. I myself will throw away the word work-life balance. I will work, work, work, work and work.
In October 2025, as prime minister, she instructed her labor minister to consider easing the rules on working hours, on the premise of health and workers’ own choice. Yoshino Tomoko, head of Rengo, called this a reversal of the efforts to correct long working hours.
On December 1, 2025, the phrase won the grand prize of the year’s Buzzword Awards. Takaichi said it had drawn both praise and criticism. Two groups of families of people who had died from overwork protested the award at a press conference.