Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has decided to resign, a person familiar with the matter said on Friday, according to Reuters.

Public broadcaster NHK earlier said Abe, who has battled the disease ulcerative colitis for years, wanted to avoid causing problems for the government due to the worsening of his condition.

He had made two visits to the hospital in the past week and one of his hospital visits lasted almost eight hours.

Abe is known to suffer from ulcerative colitis, a chronic condition that was partly responsible for forcing him out of office after just a year during his previous term as prime minister in 2007.

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