Former Japan international rugby player Yasunori Watanabe died after falling in front of a train over the weekend, police said on Monday.

Police said Watanabe, 35, fell onto the track from a platform at the Kamakura station in the south of Tokyo and was run over by an incoming train late on Saturday.

The former flanker was capped 32 times and played in the three consecutive rugby World Cups from 1999 to 2007. The 192-centimetre player ran in eight tries for the Brave Blossoms before retiring from the sport in early 2009.

"With his ideal size in the flanker's position, besides his speed and skills, he displayed penetrating attacks. He played for Japan for a long time as a fierce and persistent player," the Japan Rugby Football Union said in a statement.

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