Ex-Japanese finance minister found dead

TOKYO, Oct. 4 (UPI) -- Former Japanese Finance Minister Shoichi Nakagawa was found dead at his Tokyo home Sunday morning, police said.

Nakagawa, 56, was lying face-down on a bed on the second floor of his home without visible wounds, police said, Kyodo reported.

Police were investigating the cause of his death.

Nakagawa, once considered a possible prime minister candidate, lost his seat in the House of Representatives election in August in which the Democratic Party of Japan took power from the Liberal Democratic Party.

Nakagawa, an LDP party member, had resigned as finance minister and financial services minister in mid-February after seeming to be drunk during a press conference in Rome following a Group of Seven financial leaders meeting. He later said he slurred words and appeared dazed because he had taken cold medicine.

Nakagawa, a graduate of the University of Tokyo, was elected to his first lower house seat in 1983 and had held prominent positions in the Cabinet and the LDP, including agriculture minister, trade minister and party policy chief.

Kyodo reported that his wife had found him unresponsive about 8:30 Sunday morning and called an ambulance.