Finance Minister Hirohisa Fujii, hospitalized since Monday for medical tests, said Wednesday he will respect the opinions of doctors in deciding his future.
The 77-year-old Fujii said his health had been under "severe strain" during the process of drafting the fiscal 2010 budget.
"Today is only the third day. Every day, I'm having (medical tests). I'm not foolish enough to self-diagnose. I have to see what kind of conclusion specialists will draw," Fujii said at a news conference after temporarily leaving the hospital to attend a nonregular Cabinet meeting.
Fujii, the oldest member of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's Cabinet, said he does not know when he will receive the test results, adding he will undergo a thorough physical examination in the days ahead.
He is expected to remain in the hospital until the next regular Cabinet meeting Tuesday.
Fujii, who did not appear to be in good shape Wednesday, said "it was tough" physically to work toward finishing the budget draft last Friday.
"I have been formulating budgets from when I was in my 30s. It is of course different now from that time," said Fujii, who was a Finance Ministry bureaucrat for more than 20 years before entering politics.
He said he is proud that he was able to meet important promises to the public, such as finishing the budget draft before the end of the year and avoiding excessive issuance of government bonds.
"That is why I became very exhausted," he said.