Two women died and five other women collapsed Saturday at a Buddhist meditation hall in Tawaramoto, Nara Prefecture, from apparent carbon monoxide poisoning.
The two dead -- Shigeko Okawa, 80, and Sumie Fujii, 78 -- were among six women age 75 to 87 visiting the 88-year-old female priest at the hall. They were found by a relative of one of the women who lived nearby.
All seven were taken to a hospital, but Okawa and Fujii died later Saturday, and three others were still unconscious, police said Sunday.
When firefighters arrived at the scene, a charcoal brazier was burning and another heater was turned on.
Police said the priest had recently been released from a hospital, and the six others came to visit her.