SENDAI -- A Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker elected from Miyagi Prefecture announced Thursday that he will resign to take responsibility for illegal distribution of gifts to voters.

Itsunori Onodera, 39, from the Miyagi No. 6 district, will soon tender his resignation to Lower House President Soichiro Ito. Once Ito authorizes the resignation, a by-election will be held to fill the vacancy within 40 days after the local election committee is notified of the decision.

Onodera is the second lawmaker from the Miyagi No. 6 district to resign over an election-related scandal in just over two years.

Onodera is accused of conspiring with his aides to distribute packages of incense as gifts to more than 500 families in his constituency last August, in violation of the provision of the Public Offices Election Law that bans gift-giving.

Last month, Miyagi Prefectural Police sent investigation papers on the lawmaker and his aides to prosecutors. The Miyagi District Public Prosecutor's Office is expected to make a decision on the case by the end of the month.

"I was so careless and so ignorant of the Public Offices Election Law. I am repentant from the bottom of my heart, and will resign to take responsibility," Onodera told reporters in his office in Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture.

Onodera was first elected to the Lower House in a by-election in December 1997, which was held to fill the vacancy left by Fukujiro Kikuchi, who stepped down after his son was convicted for vote-buying in the father's campaign.

A Diet member convicted of violating the Public Offices Election Law faces ouster and a ban from running in elections for the same constituency for up to five years.

Responding to the news of the resignation, Naoto Kan, policy chief of the Democratic Party of Japan, told reporters in Tokyo that "it is only natural" for Onodera to quit, given that he was elected to the Diet after a vote-buying scandal by his predecessor in the same constituency.

The DPJ, the largest opposition force, has been calling for Onodera's resignation since the scandal broke last year. The party plans to put full energy into the campaign for the by-election as a prelude to general poll that must be held no later than October.

Meanwhile, LDP Secretary General Yoshiro Mori said he takes seriously Onodera's decision to step down.

"What we should do is arouse attention so that a situation like this is never repeated," Mori said in a statement.