Wakayama Gov. Shuhei Kishimoto, 68, has been taken to hospital after collapsing at his official residence, sources familiar with the matter said Monday.
He is unconscious and in critical condition, and is being treated in an intensive care unit, the sources said.
According to the prefectural government, the governor was found collapsed at around 10:15 a.m. on Monday by officials who went to his residence because they could not reach him.
Kishimoto visited the 2025 World Exposition in the city of Osaka on Sunday. His official duties scheduled for Monday afternoon have been canceled.
Kishimoto, a native of the city of Wakayama, previously served as head of a Finance Ministry division. He was elected to the House of Representatives in 2009, serving five terms in 13 years and taking such key posts as parliamentary vice minister of economy, trade and industry.
He was elected governor for the first time in 2022 with recommendations from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and the Democratic Party for the People, also an opposition party.
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