It's official—former prime minister Shinzo Abe told the press that the main reason he resigned from his post last last year was because he had really bad diarrhea.
Abe has a condition called ulcerative colitis. It actually sounds really awful and painful—he's had it since the age of 17. Diplomatic trips to India, Malaysia, and Indonesia only worsened the condition, causing frequent urination and painful bleeding. Here it is in his own words:
To mention an indelicate matter, I rushed to the lavatory after having keen abdominal pains and saw the basin all red with tremendous bleeding. Bleeding causes slight anemia. More than anything else, though, you feel depressed as you see fresh blood every time you go to the toilet.
You can never get a good night's sleep as you shuttle between the bed and toilet.
The need to go to the toilet many times a day hampers election and other political activities very much.
Once ulcerative colitis worsens, I would need to go to the lavatory 30 times a day. It would be absolutely impossible to perform the heavy duties of prime minister.
His last straw was when he couldn't remember the lines of his parliament speech in September.

Hopefully he was studying his zuiikin english:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=miSADG9yihM
Posted by: KUKU | January 13, 2008 at 08:52 PM
Hopefully he was studying his zuiikin english:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=miSADG9yihM
Posted by: KUKU | January 13, 2008 at 09:01 PM
I know being the PM has to be a shitty job, but this takes the cake.
This has got to be a joke. There is no way this is true.
Posted by: Javatrader | January 14, 2008 at 11:00 AM
This is a true story. See this link for details. http://www.japantoday.com/jp/news/424718
Posted by: braindoner | January 14, 2008 at 09:13 PM