Hong Kong ( CNN ) -- The newly appointed Japanese ambassador to China has died after taking ill and collapsing in Tokyo late last week . In a brief statement , the Japanese Foreign Ministry confirmed Shinichi Nishimiya , 60 , died on Sunday after spending the weekend in hospital because of his `` health condition . '' He collapsed just two days after being appointed to the job . The ministry did not disclose any further details about what had happened . Panasonic closes China plants after protests . Previously a deputy minister for foreign affairs , Nishimiya was due to replace the current Japanese envoy in Beijing , 72-year-old Uichiro Niwa , in the coming weeks amid heightened tensions between Japan and China . The Japanese government 's recent purchase of a set of disputed islands in the East China Sea from a private owner has angered Beijing , which has called the acquisition `` illegal and invalid . '' Asian islands dispute : Who claims what ? On Friday China sent six surveillance vessels to carry out patrols around the remote islands , which Japan calls Senkaku and China calls Diaoyu , in an effort to underscore its claim to sovereignty . The ships briefly entered Japanese territorial waters despite warnings not to do so , the Japanese Coast Guard said . The dispute also hit a nerve with many ordinary Chinese , as tens of thousands took to the streets at the weekend to protest against Japan 's stance . In Beijing , Japan 's embassy was attacked with eggs and bottles , while angry mobs in other cities across China ransacked Japanese businesses and burned Japanese-made cars . iReport : Caught in anti-Japan protest . Though Japanese officials have sought to play down the significance of the deal to buy the islands , the dispute has come to represent what many Chinese people see as unfinished business : redressing the impact of the Japanese occupation of large swathes of eastern China during the 1930s and 1940s . China says its claim goes back hundreds of years . Japan says it saw no trace of Chinese control of the islands in an 1885 survey , so formally recognized them as Japanese sovereign territory in 1895 . Japan then sold the islands in 1932 to descendants of the original settlers . The Japanese surrender at the end of World War II in 1945 only served to cloud the issue further . The islands were administered by the U.S. occupation force after the war . But in 1972 , Washington returned them to Japan as part of its withdrawal from Okinawa . CNN 's Junko Ogura contributed to this report .
Japanese Uichiro Niwa confirms Shinichi Nishimiya , 60 , died on Sunday . Nishimiya was due to replace the current Japanese envoy in China -- Foreign Ministry . His death comes amid worsening relations between Beijing and Japan . Both countries claim sovereignty over a group of islands in the East China Sea .