Tokyo: Former Japanese finance minister Shoichi Nakagawa, who was forced to deny he was drunk at a G7 news conference in February, has died, Tokyo police said on Sunday.
Authorities were trying to determine the cause of the 56-year-old, ex-lawmaker`s death, who was found dead in a bedroom in his house in Tokyo, a police spokesman said.
Kyodo News Agency reported no external injuries were found on his body, while national broadcaster NHK said a will has not been found.
The furor surrounding Nakagawa`s resignation was a major embarrassment to ex-prime minister Taro Aso, whose Liberal Democratic Party was ousted in an August 30 election in which Nakagawa also lost his seat in Parliament`s Lower House.
A graduate of prestigious University of Tokyo, Nakagawa was an outspoken conservative who entered politics at the age of 30 after the death of his father, an LDP heavyweight.
Bureau Report
