House of Representatives lawmaker Yoji Nagaoka was found hanged Monday morning at his home in Setagaya Ward, Tokyo, in an apparent suicide attempt and died later in a hospital, police and hospital officials said.
The 54-year-old Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker bore no wounds and left no suicide note, police said.
Nagaoka, who was serving his second term representing Ibaraki Prefecture's No. 7 district, was one of several lawmakers criticized by a magazine for changing positions on postal privatization, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's priority policy initiative.