of former japanese finance minister shoichi nakagawa found dead

Former Japanese finance minister Shoichi Nakagawa found dead: Japan's former finance minister Shoichi Nakagawa, who was forced to resign over his apparently drunken behaviour, was found dead at his home in Tokyo. The cause of death is unknown.


Mr Shoichi Nakagawa, former Japanese Finance Minister

Japan's former finance minister Shoichi Nakagawa, who was forced to resign over his apparently drunken behaviour at a meeting of world powers, was found dead at his home in Tokyo earlier today. Mr Nakagawa, 56, was found dead in a bedroom by his wife at his home in Tokyo's residential district of Setagaya. The cause of death was not immediately unknown. The Kyodo news agency reported that no external injuries were found on his body, while national broadcaster NHK said a will has not been found.

Mr Nakagawa, a close ally of then prime minister Taro Aso, was incoherent and slurred his speech at a news conference in February after the Group of Seven talks in Rome amid the global economic crisis. A heavyweight in the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), Mr Nakagawa said he had sipped some wine with lunch before the press conference but blamed jet lag and cold medicine for his drowsiness. More odd behaviour followed when he visited a museum at the Vatican after the news conference. He touched exhibits and set off an alarm after entering an off-limits area. The G7 trip was widely seen as a major embarrassment for the Japanese government.