PM Ishiba Has ‘Medical Checkup’ 2nd Time within 5 Days, He Was Noted to Have Fallen Asleep During Prime Ministerial Election

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba visited Akasaka Sanno Medical Center in Tokyo on Wednesday morning. “I have heard it was a routine medical checkup that had been scheduled for some time,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said at a press conference on the day. Hayashi added, “There are no problems with his health, and it is not interfering with his official duties.”

The prime minister had just visited Mita Hospital of the International University of Health and Welfare in Tokyo on Saturday, which was described by those around him as a “medical checkup.”

It was pointed out that the prime minister dozed off during the prime ministerial election held at a plenary session of the House of Representatives on Monday. Hayashi later explained at a press conference that Ishiba had a cold and had been taking cold medicine. Within the LDP, some said that “fatigue is building up as the prime minister has to manage the minority [government].”