Abe leaves hospital after health check-up

Trump also claimed to have checked in late at night for "part" of his required annual checkup. Turns out he never went back to finish the rest of it.

Abe has been looking exhausted for quite a while. I guess the weight of the corona crisis and everything it entails is really taking its toll. Not to mention the self-inflicted problems and corruption his administration faces. Problem is, if he stands down permanently for health reasons, who would be the best person to take over? Taro Kono seems to be the least-worst option in my opinion, but there could be others.

When the going gets tough, Abe gets sick.

Looks ominously like the first time Abe was PM. He stepped down after falling ill soon after his party lost that year's House of Councillors election.

Now the economy is beginning crumble and his popularity dropping fast, the stress is getting to him again..

he had vomited blood in July

Not good.

the prime minister needs some rest

I should say so. He's been PM long enough.

Please don’t tell me Aso will become PM next week.

Just like the chairman of TEPCO who checked into hospital after the 3/11 meltdowns to escape the pressure when the heat was on.

Shows how ‘elite’ these silver-spooned entitled men really are when it is time to stand up and be counted.

Even if he will resign due to health reasons I don’t expect to get things better simply because he will be replaced by another nippon kaigi member which in the end won’t change much about the nationalist ultra conservative stand that took the country from the last years.

Suga will keep putting out directives on his behalf! He seems to be the power behind the throne!

Abe's pulling a sickie - things must be bad. Much easier to go on the sick than stand up and deal with all the problems you made, eh, Shin-chan?

Time to hang it up.

He looks terrible health wise.

I disagree with many things that PM Abe has done, but I don't wish him ill health. Get well soon. In the mean time, can we get a PM that can actually do things the public wants?

He should resign if his health is affecting his role as PM.

What the hell does Abe need rest from? He hasnt been all THAT active over the past few months and the people who are suffering from lack of support from his government for years, still have to trudge to work day in and day out!

WE need a break from Abe! Not the other way around!

Suga will keep putting out directives on his behalf! He seems to be the power behind the throne!

Suga's name is popping up more and more recently as one of the candidates to replace Abe after his term as LDP president expires.

No longer is there any talk about a 4th term for Abe, thank god!

You can bet that the minute he is released from the hospital and back in the DIET the very first thing he's going to gun for is the "Constitutional Reform" he said is his mission before he leaves. He knows it's his last chance, and he's already said his biggest regret is not having it done already, and that he wants that (and the Olympics) to be his legacy.

Abe's a sick man.

I heard he's suffering from a condition called "kakkibotti"?

I'm not sure of the spelling - has anyone else heard of this?

Message to Abe: Get better soon and resign! We are sick, too (of you).

Another easy exit from Abe claiming health reason?

Wearing a tie in highly humid 30 degree + heat would have me calling in sick too....

A hospital source said the current visit is to conduct an additional test after the June checkup.

so the june tests showed some anomalies ?

YeahRightToday  01:04 pm JST

I disagree with many things that PM Abe has done, but I don't wish him ill health.

Neither do I. I suppose. I will feel cheated if he is not either voted out of office by a landslide or escorted out in handcuffs by the police.

shoganaiToday 04:30 pm JST

A hospital source said the current visit is to conduct an additional test after the June checkup.

so the june tests showed some anomalies ?

He's been secretly visiting doctors for a long time now. Apparently he took to having lunch in some Hibiya area building that was connected to others by various routes, which allowed him to slip away, discretely visit a doctor and then return to the restaurant without being seen. He also collapsed in 2017, after a dinner outing to celebrate his 30th wedding anniversary.

It's widely accepted that he had a nervous breakdown back in 2007. Interestingly, the only people who really know what happened to him in August 2007 are those close advisers who holed up with him in the Prime Minister's Residence (same place he's disappeared into now) and the NSA, who had all the phones tapped.

Sadly, although he's the lamest of lame ducks and must be praying for a merciful end, the eminences grise who control the LDP won't let him fall on his sword. His government has been a shambles since last December and he's lost all control, hence the flurry of visits to Yasukuni from the extremists last week.

In disgrace he led in disgrace he falls, problem is he has set the bar so low that the next PM really could crawl through mud and don white gloves and be hailed! Hopefully it's the end of nepotism but I doubt it. Another family clamouring for Cudos will step in at the cost of us all.

Same like last time. Things got too tough for him and he got a tummy ache.

smithinjapanToday  01:59 pm JST

You can bet that the minute he is released from the hospital and back in the DIET the very first thing he's going to gun for is the "Constitutional Reform" he said is his mission before he leaves. He knows it's his last chance, and he's already said his biggest regret is not having it done already, and that he wants that (and the Olympics) to be his legacy.

Overcoming all the obstacles to constitutional revision would require some serious political skills, and all Abe has displayed a knack for is getting like-minded right-wingers to follow his lead, coming out on top in the LDP and ducking the blame for scandals.

CrickyToday  05:25 pm JST

Hopefully it's the end of nepotism but I doubt it.

Almost certainly not, unfortunately. It's deeply ingrained in the political culture.

CrickyToday  05:25 pm JST

Another family clamouring for Cudos will step in at the cost of us all.

Almost certainly. Hereditary politicians are a dime a dozen in the LDP.

Hopefully it's the end of nepotism but I doubt it.

exactly, there are quite a few more political families in the running, for the next generation. it is deeply entrenched.

If he resigns, he will have plenty of time to hang out at court for his corruption charges.

@expat I'd laugh but I'm crying, there appears to be no hope. Same crap different day.

I can't stand the guy, but I don't wish him ill health.

As Alfie Noakes said, he's had health issues for a while now. He had previous issues causing him to step down from his first term in office too. If there are signs of deterioration then the people around him should advise he steps down. We are in the middle of a health pandemic, as well as an economy nosediving, and the Olympics fiasco. The leader should be in peak health to work around the clock and make informed decisions.

The country is bigger than Abe.

concern voiced by a top official that the premier was suffering from fatigue from mishandling the coronavirus pandemic

quite

It's not his fault if he's ill. But if he can't work, he should just resign already. There's nothing worse than a leader who is always bringing up blood or has the runs every time he has a meeting.

If he's weak, he's weak.

A new PM? We may hope

“No longer is there any talk about a 4th term for Abe, thank god!”

Indeed

This "health examination" might be to decrease criticism against incompetent Abe government who can do nothing about present Coronavirus issue.

At least, it seems to have effect to ease criticism.

Abe or not the ldp will as the almost always do win the next election in a landslide.

The opposition have hardly said anything constructive regarding corona.

At least my summer holiday was 35% off so

Go to campaign has won my vote.

Japan needs to have depth when it comes to leadership.  We wish him better health.

Wishing him quick and full recovery.

Shows how ‘elite’ these silver-spooned entitled men really are when it is time to stand up and be counted.

The hoi-polloi just drink heavily or turn to drugs under similar stress.

I doubt any of Abe's most strident critics here could do better. I'm not a fan of his but Japan has social and political constraints no PM seems able to break through.

Wish him well !!

christopher glen:

A new PM?

In Japan, you never get a new PM. A different face and name, maybe, but never a new PM.

alfie:

praying for a merciful end

You make it sound as if he's a sick dog who needs to be put down.

Time to form a group to discuss euthanasia law reform, when you become incapable of doing what you love...night night.