Tokyo, Sept. 18 (Jiji Press)–Koichi Watanabe, a member of Japan’s House of Representatives from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, died Thursday. He was 68. Watanabe was elected to the Lower House five times from the proportional representation bloc of Hokkaido, northern Japan. The seat left by his death will remain vacant because all LDP candidates for the bloc were elected in February’s poll. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
