Japanese react to resignation of Shinzo Abe

Japan's longest-serving prime minister, Shinzo Abe, said on Friday he is stepping down because a chronic health problem has resurfaced.

Abe has h ulcerative colitis since he was a teenr and has said condition was controlled with treatment.

In Tokyo's bustling Shimbashi Station, commuters expressed mixed feelings regarding Abe's departure.

29 year-old office employee, Ayako Sekiya, said she wished Abe could stay longer to maintain country's recent stability.

In a country once kwn for its short-tenured prime ministers, departure marks end of an unusual era of stability that saw Japanese leer strike up strong ties with US President Donald Trump even as Abe's ultra-nationalism riled Koreas and China.

While he pulled Japan out of recession, ecomy has been battered anew by coronavirus pandemic, and Abe has failed to achieve his cherished goal of formally rewriting US-drafted pacifist constitution because of poor public support.

"w in this kind of situation, I hope that someone who can think and act properly about COVID-19 countermeasure in future ahe will be prime minister," said Masaya Takahashi, 30 year-old office worker.

His health concerns came as his support ratings plunged due to his handling of coronavirus pandemic and its severe impact on ecomy, on top of a stream of political scandals, including his own.