Tokyo governor Koike denies rumor of serious illness

Jiji Press

November 27, 2021

TOKYO (Jiji Press) — Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike, who was recently hospitalized due to extreme fatigue, denied rumors Friday that she has a serious illness.

“I’m thinking, ‘Don’t say inaccurate things,’” Koike said at her first regular press conference in about a month.

“The fact that I’m back in good health is proof” of not being severely ill, she added.

Koike was hospitalized Oct. 27. She left the hospital Nov. 2 and then worked from home until she returned to work at the metropolitan government office Sunday.

“There were combined difficulties due to piled-up fatigue,” Koike said about her health.

She apologized over the resignation of Tokyo metropolitan assembly member Fumiko Kinoshita, who was indicted without arrest after causing a car accident while driving without a license.

Koike said she is “sorry for the inconvenience” caused by Kinoshita, while expressing support for the decision she made.

In the July assembly election, Koike backed Kinoshita, who was a member of regional political party Tomin First no Kai (Tokyoites first group), which Koike serves as special adviser. Kinoshita had the accident during the campaign period.