Former Chief Cabinet Secretary Seiroku Kajiyama died Tuesday afternoon at a Tokyo hospital, ruling Liberal Democratic Party officials said. He was 74.

Kajiyama, who had been undergoing medical treatment since being involved in a traffic accident in January, died at 3:45 p.m., the officials said. The cause of death was not immediately known.

Kajiyama was hospitalized Feb. 19 to undergo surgery to remove a subdural hematoma caused by injuries sustained in the accident, but had reportedly not been recovering well.