Suicide by Japan minister

Japan's Minister for Agriculture died Monday after he reportedly tried to hang himself  hours before he was to face questioning in parliament over a political scandal, reports Japan Times.

Toshikatsu Matsuoka, 62, was found unconscious in his official apartment and rushed to a hospital, where he was declared dead hours later, a Tokyo Metropolitan Police official was quoted as saying.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said the death was ``very regrettable.''

'Matsuoka, a 62-year-old House of Representatives lawmaker from Kumamoto Prefecture, was taken to Keio University Hospital in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward at around 1 pm, after being found unconscious in his unit in a parliamentary housing building in Tokyo's Akasaka district,' said the Japan Times,

quoting Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki and hospital officials.

He recently came under fire for accepting political donations from contractors alleged to have been involved in bid-rigging for public works projects , with opposition lawmakers demanding that he resign as minister. He had also been grilled for not providing a clear-cut accounting of expenditures claimed by his lawmaker's office, which was in fact rent-free, the report said.

Matsuoka had repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.