Former Lower House Speaker Hiroyuki Hosoda died Friday at the age of 79, less than a month after resigning his position due to poor health.

The veteran heavyweight of the Liberal Democratic Party, who was under fire at the time of his resignation as speaker in October due to sexual harassment allegations and his reputed ties to the Unification Church, served in a number of key posts during his 11-term parliamentary career, which began in 1990.

These include a stint as chief Cabinet secretary between May 2004 and October 2005 under Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and as the LDP's secretary-general under Prime Minister Taro Aso between September 2008 and September 2009.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida paid tribute to Hosoda on Friday, recalling his career and their joint work on the LDP’s trade and commerce committee, saying Hosoda had an extensive knowledge of the issues.

“I had the opportunity to get to know him through our various connections and I would like to express my gratitude for all of his advice,” Kishida said.

In addition, Hosoda led the largest faction in the LDP until 2021, taking over after the previous chairman, Nobutaka Machimura, became speaker of the Lower House in December 2014.

Upon becoming speaker himself, Hosoda turned over the faction to former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in November 2021. Traditionally, speakers leave their factions and political parties when they are appointed to the position.

But following Abe’s assassination in July 2022 in which his alleged attacker said he targeted the former prime minister out of anger over his connection to the Unification Church, Hosoda came under scrutiny over his own church connections.

Hosoda said in a statement in September of last year that he made remarks at two Unification Church ceremonies and took part in two other gatherings between 2018 and 2019, all of which were hosted by the church or affiliated groups. He added that he was once interviewed for a publication linked to the church, formally known as the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification.

The revelations prompted calls for Hosoda to resign as speaker. He refused, insisting that he had no special connections to the church.

Hosoda also denied allegations of sexual harassment by female reporters from a weekly magazine, saying they were just rumors.

Hosoda's health had been declining in recent months, prompting him to step down as speaker, though he kept his seat in the Lower House. In July, he was hospitalized with heatstroke. He later returned to work, but was hospitalized again in early September for treatment related to blood vessels in his brain, which forced him to miss the Group of Seven speakers’ meeting in Kyoto.

Originally from Matsue, Shimane Prefecture, Hosoda graduated from the University of Tokyo's faculty of law and went to work for what is now the Ministry of Trade, Economy and Industry before entering politics. He represented the Shimane No. 1 district, which includes Matsue, inheriting the seat from his father, Kichizo, a former transport minister in the early 1980s under Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone.