Former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) has canceled a planned visit to Japan later this month because he has just recovered from a bout of pneumonia, a source close to him said on Thursday.
The source told the Central News Agency that Lee developed mild pneumonia after he caught the flu late last month.
Although Lee has now recovered, his doctor at Taipei Veterans General Hospital advised him to rest and avoid any overseas travel for the time being, the source said, adding that Lee was a bit disappointed but decided to heed the doctor's advice.
Lee had planned to depart for Japan on May 31 to continue an oku no hosomichi tour in the northeastern areas of Honshu. The tour retraces a 2,400km journey by Japanese poet Matsuo Basho in 1689, which inspired his famous work Oku no Hosomichi, or Narrow Road.
During a 2007 visit to Japan, Lee completed only part of the tour through the prefectures of Miyagi, Yamagata, Iwate, Akita and Gunma.
He has visited Japan four times since he stepped down from the presidency in May 2000. He first visited Okayama Prefecture in April 2001 to seek treatment for heart disease and made a second trip between December 2004 and January 2005 to several Japanese cities, including Nagoya and Kyoto.
During his 2007 trip, Lee also visited the controversial war memorial, Yasukuni Shrine, to pay his respects to his older brother, who died fighting for the Japanese Imperial Army during World War II.
His most recent visit to Japan was last September, when he went to Okinawa to deliver a speech.
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