Tokyo: She died nearly seven months ago but Shizue Yamaguchi, one Japan`s first women lawmakers wanted it to be a secret till her 95th birthday.
Yamaguchi, 94, died of kidney failure on April 3 at a hospital here, Kyodo news agency reported today.
She was elected as a lawmaker in 1946.
Yamaguchi Shizue Garden, a Tokyo sports club where Yamaguchi had been a management board member, said she had wanted her death not to be announced until October 31, her 95th birthday, the report said.
She was returned to the Diet 13 times from a Tokyo electorate. She initially belonged to the forerunner of the Social Democratic Party and moved to the Liberal Democratic Party in 1967.
She was awarded the UN Peace Medal in 1980 and Japan`s Order of the Sacred Treasure in 1987.
PTI
