A press conference has begun at Nara Medical University Hopsital, where former Japanese PM Shinzo Abe was pronounced dead after being shot while giving a campaign speech.
A doctor says Abe died at 08:03 GMT.
He sustained wounds around the right side of the neck, the doctor continues, adding the wound was deep enough to reach his heart.
The doctor adds that the bullet was not found.
His first stint as prime minister was brief - for a little over a year starting in 2006 - and controversial.
But he made a surprising political comeback in 2012, and stayed in power until 2020 when he resigned for health reasons.
Japan was in a recession when he began his second term and his economic policy - built on monetary easing, fiscal stimulus and structural reforms - was credited with helping growth return to a faltering economy.
He also oversaw Japan's recovery from a massive earthquake and tsunami in Tohoku in 2011, which killed nearly 20,000 people and led to a meltdown of the Fukushima nuclear reactors.
He stepped down in 2020 after weeks of speculation, revealing that he had suffered a relapse of ulcerative colitis. The intestinal disease had led to his resignation in 2007 too.
He was succeeded by close party ally Yoshihide Suga, but was still seen as a powerful figure in Japanese politics.
