Hidefumi Minorikawa, a House of Representatives member of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, died Thursday of liver failure at a hospital in Omagari, Akita Prefecture, his family said. He was 67.
A native of Akita Prefecture, Minorikawa was serving his fourth term in the Lower House since being first elected in 1990. He was elected through the LDP's proportional representation block for the Tohoku region.
Minorikawa once chaired the chamber's Committee on Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications and was parliamentary vice minister of the then National Land Agency in 1996.
With Minorikawa's death, Kyoichi Tsushima, of Hirosaki, Aomori Prefecture, will get a Lower House seat in line with the LDP's proportional representation list for the Tohoku block in the 2000 election.