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Yomiuri Shimbun file photo Prime Minister Fumio Kishida
Jiji Press
10:50 JST, February 12, 2023
TOKYO (Jiji Press) — Prime Minister Fumio Kishida underwent endoscopic surgery for chronic rhinosinusitis that was causing a stuffy nose at a Tokyo hospital Saturday.
The surgery ended without any problem, according to informed sources.
Kishida returned to the prime minister’s official residence within the day. He will resume his official duties Monday.
During the sinus surgery, which was conducted under general anesthesia, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno served as acting prime minister.
According to the sources, Kishida is doing well after the surgery. He stayed at the hospital for about eight hours.
Kishida’s voice became noticeably nasal from around October last year, and he visited the hospital three times after that.
In a Twitter post after the surgery, Kishida thanked for many messages of encouragement. “Challenges are piling up in and outside the country. By taking all possible precautions to make sure I’m in good physical shape, I’ll tackle the difficult situation,” he said.
The cabinet law stipulates that the duties of prime minister will be performed temporarily by a cabinet minister designated in advance in the event that the prime minister is involved in an accident or unable to carry out his duties. When then Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi suffered cerebral infarction and was raced to hospital in April 2000, then Chief Cabinet Secretary Mikio Aoki served as acting prime minister.
