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Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is set to resign for health reasons, officials from his LDP party say.
He has suffered from the disease ulcerative colitis for many years but his condition is thought to have worsened recently.
Public broadcaster NHK said Mr Abe, 65, wanted to avoid causing problems for his government.
Earlier this week, he became Japan's longest continuously serving prime minister, after taking office in 2012.
In 2007 he resigned abruptly from an earlier term as prime minister because of his struggles with ulcerative colitis, a chronic condition affecting the large intestine, that he has lived with since he was a teenager.
Abe has a reputation as a staunch conservative and nationalist, and for stimulating growth with his aggressive economic policy known as "Abenomics".
He has strengthened Japan's defences and boosted military spending, but has been unable to revise the constitution's pacifist Article 9, which bans a standing army for anything other than self-defence.
Two hospital visits in one week sparked questions about whether Mr Abe's health was deteriorating. He had been due to serve until September 2021.
He has not revealed what the visits were for but one is reported to have lasted nearly eight hours.
Officials from his governing Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) have previously dismissed speculation that he would step down, saying the prime minister's health was fine.
On Tuesday one of his aides told Reuters that he thought Abe would fulfil his tenure.
He has suffered from the disease ulcerative colitis for many years but his condition is thought to have worsened recently.
Public broadcaster NHK said Mr Abe, 65, wanted to avoid causing problems for his government.
Earlier this week, he became Japan's longest continuously serving prime minister, after taking office in 2012.
In 2007 he resigned abruptly from an earlier term as prime minister because of his struggles with ulcerative colitis, a chronic condition affecting the large intestine, that he has lived with since he was a teenager.
Abe has a reputation as a staunch conservative and nationalist, and for stimulating growth with his aggressive economic policy known as "Abenomics".
He has strengthened Japan's defences and boosted military spending, but has been unable to revise the constitution's pacifist Article 9, which bans a standing army for anything other than self-defence.
Two hospital visits in one week sparked questions about whether Mr Abe's health was deteriorating. He had been due to serve until September 2021.
He has not revealed what the visits were for but one is reported to have lasted nearly eight hours.
Officials from his governing Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) have previously dismissed speculation that he would step down, saying the prime minister's health was fine.
On Tuesday one of his aides told Reuters that he thought Abe would fulfil his tenure.
