Japan's farm minister, Toshikatsu Matsuoka - under fire for a series of political funding scandals -- has attempted suicide and his lungs and heart have stopped functioning, police and media said on Monday.
The cabinet minister's suicide attempt comes with less than two months to go before an election for parliament's upper house, a key test for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government.
"This will have serious political fallout, but at this point it's hard to tell how much," a government official told Reuters.
Matsuoka was found unconscious in his room at a residential complex for lawmakers in central Tokyo near parliament and had been taken to hospital, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki told a hastily called news conference.
Public broadcaster NHK said Matsuoka had attempted to hang himself in his room.
Media reports have linked Matsuoka to a number of political fund scandals, including a case in which he had declared substantial office expenditures when his office was in fact rent-free.
Last week, media said the minister had received political donations from businessmen involved in a bid-rigging scandal.
Matsuoka has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.
Shiozaki said the government was considering appointing an acting minister in place of Matsuoka.
"I want him to recover as soon as possible," Shiozaki told an emergency news conference.
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