Hirohito May Need Intestinal Surgery
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TOKYO — Japan’s 86-year-old Emperor Hirohito, the world’s longest-reigning monarch, may have to undergo surgery for an intestinal disorder, officials said Saturday.
“We have to check some more to determine whether or not to send the emperor to the hospital and conduct an operation,” said a statement from Tomohiko Tomita, director general of the Imperial Household Agency.
Aides will decide Monday whether to hospitalize Hirohito, who became emperor in 1926, said Satoru Yamamoto, Tomita’s deputy.
His condition will not affect the state and diplomatic duties of Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone, who left Japan earlier Saturday to attend the U.N. General Assembly in New York, said Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Hideo Watanabe.
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