Although this is all over Twitter I am posting this here as well. It hasn't really hit English language news sites yet but I am sure it will be all over anime websites soon. At age 47 this is a terrible loss.
http://www.ani.me/zine/home/article/130/ I have yet to see all his films (something I regret even more now) but Millennium Actress is one of my favorite anime films. Really I am still in a state of shock over this news. Apparently he had cancer.