TOKYO – Japan’s minister in charge of Okinawa and Northern Territories affairs is in hospital for observation after suffering a suspected “light stroke,” the government’s top spokesman said Tuesday.

Tetsuma Esaki, 74, will likely need to remain in hospital for several days for tests, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a press conference.

Suga said Esaki became unwell Monday night. Esaki was absent from a Cabinet meeting earlier Tuesday.

He was appointed to his current role, his first Cabinet post, in August last year to deal with matters related to the southern island prefecture and a group of islands controlled by Russia but claimed by Japan.