Japan's new Ambassador to China died within a week of his appointment.
Shin-ichi Nishimiya, who was hospitalized on being found lying unconscious on a Tokyo street last week, died on Sunday after spending the weekend in hospital because of his "health condition," the Japanese Foreign Ministry said in a brief statement. It did not disclose any details of his illness.
The 60-year-old diplomat collapsed just two days after being named envoy to Beijing.
Tokyo police responding to an emergency call found Nishimiya lying face down on a sidewalk near his house in the Shibuya district on Thursday morning.
Police said the woman who alerted them had seen Nishimiya standing alone moments before she saw him lying on the street.
He was among three new Japanese Ambassadors the Cabinet appointed last Tuesday. Nishimiya assumed the post on the same day replacing Uichiro Niwa, and was scheduled to arrive in China early next month.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura told reporters that Nishimiya reportedly felt sick before he fell down.
Nishimiya's death comes at a time of heightened tensions between China and Japan over the ownership of a cluster of disputed islands in the East China Sea.
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