Former Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori said Tuesday he will undergo surgery for prostate cancer next week at a hospital in Tokyo.
Mori said he has been receiving hormone therapy since April 2000, when he was suspected of having cancer. He took up the post of prime minister that same month and served for about one year.
He told a meeting of his faction within the ruling Liberal Democratic Party he will be hospitalized for about 10 days for the operation and monitoring.
Mori said he would still leave Wednesday, as scheduled, for a three-day trip to China.