TOKYO: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was hospitalized for stress and exhaustion yesterday, a day after announcing his resignation, as his party scrambled to find a replacement amid growing calls for a general election.

Abe, 52, will remain hospitalized for at least three or four days, his doctors said, leaving the care of his scandal-scarred government with his top deputy, Chief Cabinet Secretary Kaoru Yosano.

"Some may perhaps call my decision irresponsible," Abe said in an e-mail posted after he was admitted to a Tokyo hospital yesterday afternoon. "However, I made up my mind that it would be in the very best interests of the nation, and of the people of Japan, for me to step down from my position."