House of Representatives member Tetsuji Kubo died Tuesday of liver failure at a Tokyo hospital, his family and the New Komeito party said. He was 56.
A native of Kawachinagano, Osaka Prefecture, Kubo was serving his third term in the Lower House since first being elected in 1993. He represented New Komeito's proportional representation block for the Kinki region.
Kubo, a member of the party's policy-setting central secretary committee, once chaired the Lower House's Committee on Land, Infrastructure and Transport.
With Kubo's death, Shigeki Sato, 44, of Osaka will get a Lower House seat in line with New Komeito's proportional representation list for the Kinki block in the 2000 election.