TOKYO, Aug 17 (NNN-NHK) – Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, checked into a hospital in Tokyo today, for what one of his aide’s described as, a “health checkup,” although rumours have been swirling, about Abe’s ill health.
Kyodo News reported that, Abe’s visit to Keio University Hospital, in the capital, came a day after former economy minister, Akira Amari, told a TV programme that the prime minister needs to rest, intimating he may be suffering from exhaustion.
Abe, 65, during his first tenure as prime minister, which started in late Sept, 2006, abruptly stepped down from his post in 2007, due to chronic ulcerative colitis, an intestinal disease.
Earlier in the month, however, Japan’s top government spokesperson, Chief Cabinet Secretary, Yoshihide Suga, downplayed any potential health issues Abe may be going through, saying, “I see the prime minister every day, and I think he has no health problems at all, as he has been carrying out his duties smoothly.”
A government official with knowledge of the matter, said today, the prime minister is undergoing a one-day health checkup at the hospital in Tokyo.– NNN-NHK
