Cabinet leader takes over as Japan prime minister after Obuchi suffer strokes.(Knight Ridder Newspapers)

TOKYO _ Japanese Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi suffered a stroke Sunday and his condition was considered serious enough that he named an acting prime minister to fulfill his duties.

Obuchi was taken to the intensive-care unit of Tokyo's Juntendo University Hospital about 8 p.m. Sunday after he apparently suffered a cerebral infarction, or stroke, officials said. Only an hour earlier, he had tapped Mikio Aoki, the chief Cabinet secretary, to temporarily step into his shoes, officials said.

The prime minister was taken to the hospital early Sunday morning after complaining of fatigue and overwork.

At a late-morning news conference Monday Aoki confirmed that Obuchi, 62, had suffered a brain stroke that would keep him hospitalized for some time. Aoki told reporters that when he visited the prime minister in the hospital early Sunday evening, Obuchi was alert and conscious but that ``later, his condition deteriorated.''

In a news conference that was noticeably skimpy on details, Aoki said he …