Japan's PM Abe hospitalised for exhaustion

TOKYO: Japan's outgoing Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was hospitalised on Thursday with extreme fatigue and an intestinal disorder following his abrupt resignation, a doctor said.   

Accompanied by his wife Akie, Abe went to hospital amid growing speculation about whether ill health may have been partly behind his decision to step down.   

"He was diagnosed with a functional gastrointestinal disorder," attending doctor Toshifumi Hibi told a throng of reporters waiting at the hospital in Tokyo where Abe was admitted.   

"The cause is physical fatigue and mental stress. He needs to be hospitalised for three or four days," Hibi said.   

"If his state of stress had continued I would have assessed that it would be a little difficult to continue" as prime minister, he said, adding that Abe's "entire body is debilitated."   

He said the premier had lost about five kilogrammes (11 pounds) in recent months. Abe did not mention his health when announcing his resignation on Wednesday.   

But the top government spokesman later suggested health reasons may have been partly behind the decision, which was widely criticised by Japanese newspapers.   

"Since he returned from his trip abroad, the doctor has visited the prime minister's official residence quite often," Chief Cabinet Secretary Kaoru Yosano said, referring to his tour of India, Indonesia and Malaysia last month.   

Abe's health has deteriorated since his party's major defeat in upper house elections on July 29. He has been receiving intravenous fluids and was visited by the treating doctor three times in the past week, Hibi revealed.   

"It's been about a month since the symptom was observed, but his condition rapidly worsened in the past few days," he said.   

"If the prime minister hadn't resigned Wednesday and had kept working under the current state of tension, I would still have recommended he be hospitalised," Hibi said.   

The timing of Abe's announcement surprised the nation, coming just two weeks after he reshuffled his cabinet and only two days after he had told parliament he intended to stay in office to continue his reform agenda.   

Abe has been under intense pressure after a wave of scandals involving his ministers and public anger over mismanagement of the pension system.   

The premier has also been struggling to renew legislation underpinning Japanese military support for US forces operating in Afghanistan, with the opposition pledging to oppose it.