Abe to hold press conference at 5 p.m. Friday

Farewell, Shintaro.

I hold tremendous differences with him, but I find it shocking to wish ill upon ANYONE on Earth. I believe in the dignity of human being, and that includes not sinking low and wishing ill on someone.

Take a rest...family comes first...

Er, you'll find that Shintaro retired years ago

Had I forgotten his name already? Oh my!

Farewell, Shintaro

Had I forgotten his name already? Oh my!

LOL!! Nice One!

If he does announce he's stepping down, I'm going to invite all JT posters to a virtual nomikai!

This whole thing is so obviously set up.

Government always puts out uncomfortable news late on Friday, 100% Abe is leaving, I'm betting 10,000 yen on it

Consult Doctors?....Spin Doctors. How much fun will comments be with Mr Smiley Suga in charge.

Just spare us the drama and leave. Your legacy will be Mario at the Rio Olympics, your idiot masks, your idiot abenomics, caddying for trump, Moritomo, Kake Gakuin, Sakura, ill timed raising of the consumption tax, fantastic GDP and national debt, bidding on the Olympics when over 100,000 people were still displaced from the tsunami, and a complete lack of leadership when the country faced its worst crisis since WW2.

Seems like the media wants him to be sick and gone. I hope he's ok because he's the only thing keeping the Japanese economy from being destroyed by lockdown measures other countries are doing.

Disgusting, all those wishing ill of him - IF he is seriously ill come back and repeat your comments. For all his mistakes, you really should learn to separate politics and personal. You'd really want the same wished on you by your colleagues if you made decisions they didn't agree with.

I hold tremendous differences with him, but I find it shocking to wish ill upon ANYONE on Earth. I believe in the dignity of human being, and that includes not sinking low and wishing ill on someone."

Agreed & well said.

I don,t like him as an arrogant, silver spoon fed PM but when it comes to health I hope he recovers from whatever ailment /condition is facing.

@Marcelito....agree with all of what you said. I am not a fan of his politics but I do not wish ill health upon anyone. I hope he can retire and enjoy his life peacefully.

Additionally; regardless of who you are, the amount of stress he is under is probably quite high trying to navigate through the Pandemic. There are decisions which were made where I disagreed however I would not want the one to have the responsibility to make those decisions. Tough stuff....

Looks like he is going to resign. Health is the most important anyway.

In the world of politics, bad news always arrives on a Friday.

Consult Doctors?....

Witch doctors, AKA economists?

Careful what you wish for, there is not a single politician in Japan that could take his place.......

I don't know about tomorrow. 

but, in many case, Present Japanese prime minister press conference is farce.

Japan's press club media offer questions to cabinet office beforehand, cabinet office picks ”favorable’’ questions, prime minister Abe only reads out prepared answers.

Take a rest...family comes first...

If you havent noticed, he has been "resting" for quite a while now.

Come on - Speak up the 6 people who thumbed me down. Disgusting.

Yes - poor job as has done, CS is completely correct. Who, right now, is capable of stepping into the breach? There is a process to this as in any country and can anybodu come up with a credible instant replacement? I think not.

abe has been resting on his laurels for far too long as it is..

farewell shinzo

Who, right now, is capable of stepping into the breach? There is a process to this as in any country and can anybodu come up with a credible instant replacement? I think not.

"The graveyards are full of indespensible men." - Charles DeGaulle. Much quoted, pretty appropriate here.

Not only can they find a replacement for Abe, there is a good chance he has already been chosen by the various factions. And once installed I doubt anyone will notice much difference!

Here's hoping the doctors advise him on early retirement

" but I find it shocking to wish ill upon ANYONE on Earth. "

No-one is wishing him ill. But we DO wish him to leave office.

Imagine him exposing that he is indeed directly related to the Casino bribes and the Vote buying.

Imagine him coming clean with Kake,Moritomo,Sontaku and all the other myriad of scandals he has had a leading hand in!

An abrupt and unscheduled end, without an anointed heir apparent to take over the poisoned chalice of leading the LDP would be perfectly in keeping with the overall incompetence that has characterised his tenure. The best thing he can do would be a candid admission that his three arrows palaver was a miserable failure and that his vacating the stage relieves us of having to bear the unbearable and endure the unendurable.

Take a shot every time he says "shikkari-to"

Imagine him coming clean with Kake,Moritomo,Sontaku and all the other myriad of scandals he has had a leading hand in!

Then his health might just get better.Fat chance on the fessing up though.

If Abe resigns, I hope the rest of his Party do the Honorable thing, and resign along with him.

Now would be a good time to go, before he’s kicked out at the ballot box. Always leave them wanting more rather than outstaying your welcome..

Theater or leadership? Does he know the difference? Let’s mimasho.

5 p.m. friday. That was the favorite time and day for the Nixon administration to break bad news to the public, which would then be distracted by the coming weekend.