Japan's Abe spends several hours in hospital amid rising speculation about his health

Tokyo

JAPANESE Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited a Tokyo hospital for several hours on Monday after his avoidance of extended public appearances sparked speculation about the health of the country's longest-serving premier.

Mr Abe, 65, was seen arriving by car at Keio University Hospital in Tokyo at about 10:30am, in video broadcast by Japanese television networks. At about 6pm Kyodo News reported that he left the hospital. Kyodo cited an aide as saying Mr Abe went for a regular health check and broadcaster TBS said he had undergone a full health examination as recently as June.

The Prime Minister's Office has not put out an official statement on the matter. Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura said he was not worried about Mr Abe, telling a news conference on Monday the premier was full of physical and mental strength.

But close Abe associate and LDP lawmaker Akira Amari tweeted Monday that he had called on Mr Abe's secretaries to let the premier rest by cutting back on his appointments. The secretaries responded that Mr Abe himself refused to take time off, Mr Amari said.

Mr Abe hasn't held a full-length news conference since mid-June, and has rebuffed opposition calls for a new session of Parliament to debate policies for controlling the coronavirus and its economic fallout.

Domestic media have kept a close eye on Mr Abe's movements, noting that he paid his first visit in months to a gym on Aug 10. Broadcaster TBS even took to timing his daily walk across the foyer of his residence in a bid to gauge the state of his health.

Mr Abe resigned in 2007 after an abbreviated first term in office, citing a worsening of chronic ulcerative colitis. When he made a comeback in 2012 that started his current run as prime minister, aides said the introduction of a new drug had enabled him to bring the condition under control.

Chief Cabinet secretary Yoshihide Suga, who works closely with Mr Abe on a daily basis, said on Aug 4 he didn't believe there was any problem with the premier's health. Mr Abe's last major public appearance was on Saturday. BLOOMBERG