Abe checks in to Tokyo hospital amid speculation about health

TOKYO, Aug 17, 2020, Kyodo. Amid speculation about his health, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe checked in to a hospital in Tokyo on Monday for what an aide called “a one-day regular health checkup,” Japan Today reported.

Abe’s visit to Keio University Hospital came a day after former economy minister Akira Amari, who is close to Abe, told a TV program that the prime minister needs some rest.

The 65-year-old Abe has been undergoing health checkups at the hospital about every six months, and his previous visit was on June 13. A hospital source said the current visit is to conduct an additional test after the June checkup.

More than 50 media personnel gathered near the hospital as a vehicle carrying Abe entered its premises at around 10:30 a.m.

Worries about Abe’s health have been growing after a weekly magazine reported earlier this month that he had vomited blood at his office in July, although the government’s top spokesman denied at the time that he had been in poor health.

Abe abruptly resigned in 2007 one year into his first stint as the nation’s leader, due to an intestinal disease. He was admitted to the same Keio University Hospital a day after announcing his intention to step down in September that year.

Opposition parties were keeping an eye on Abe’s health as he has kept a low profile since the regular Diet session ended in June, appearing only at several press conferences held on ceremonial occasions.

“If he is not well, I hope he will get rest and recover as soon as possible,” Yuichiro Tamaki, leader of the Democratic Party for the People, told reporters.

Some other opposition party lawmakers said Abe should be replaced if he is really in poor health as there should not be a political vacuum during the country’s fight against the virus.

Amari told a TV program aired Sunday that Abe “feels guilty about the idea of taking a break,” adding, “We need to force him to get rest, even just for a few days.”

Abe is known to usually take his summer vacation at his holiday home in Yamanashi Prefecture after attending a ceremony marking Japan’s surrender in World War II on Aug 15 every year. This year, he has stayed at his home in Tokyo instead amid a resurgence of coronavirus infections in the country.

Abe has come under fire for his response to the coronavirus pandemic, notably the slow distribution of government-sponsored face masks and their low quality as well as pushing a tourism promotion campaign despite the virus’ resurgence and a last-minute change that excluded Tokyo residents from the subsidy program.

After returning to power in 2012, Abe said he had overcome his intestinal illness — ulcerative colitis — with the help of a new drug. In November last year, he became Japan’s longest-serving prime minister.