Abe Cancels Visit to Rain-Stricken Hiroshima

July 15, 2018

Tokyo- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe canceled his visit to Hiroshima Prefecture, planned on Sunday, due to pain in his hip joint, government sources said Saturday.

The prime minister was set to go to Hiroshima to see firsthand the damage that recent torrential rain inflicted on the western Japan prefecture.

After speaking of his plan to visit Hiroshima during a meeting of the government's disaster response headquarters held at the prime minister's office on Saturday morning, Abe went to Keio University Hospital in Tokyo because of the pain.

A doctor there diagnosed Abe as suffering from periarthritis of his right hip joint and told him to keep it as still as possible, according to the sources.

In place of the prime minister, Hachiro Okonogi, minister for disaster management, will visit Hiroshima on Sunday. The government will rearrange Abe's Hiroshima visit later.

Among other prefectures hit hard by floods and mudslides from the record rain, Abe visited Okayama on Wednesday and Ehime on Friday. Jiji Press