› Login to comment

Latest 15 of 57 Total Comments Show All

• 

  johnshiomi at 09:29 AM JST - 5th October

  Dead at only 56. So sad. If only he could have lived life a little differently. Maybe all of this wouldnt have happened.

• 

  Lovemustang at 09:46 AM JST - 5th October

  On a personal level, yes, it's sad. But this never offsetｓ what he did throughout his political career　- not to mention that embarrassing press interview he performed at G7 and his generally arrogant attitude and narrow minded, prejudiced nationalism. Just another sign to symbolize the death of LDP.

• 

  GW at 10:32 AM JST - 5th October

  I bet this guy was toast already when the mrs noticed he was in bed at 2100hrs, I seriously doubt a boozer like this wud hit the sack that early

• 

  unrested at 10:35 AM JST - 5th October

  suicide...i wouldnt rule it out. lets look at the facts here. he had a crushing fall from grace after drinking himself out of a lucrative career. his father was also a drunk who commited suicide at 57. he was 56 and buried in regret and embarrasment after his drunken exploits at a meeting and then later an art muesem where he blatantly violated the rules by touching master works and setting off alarms in front of officials. afterwards he was mostly ostracized by his peers and colleagues who never lended a hand to a man obviously overwrought in a darknes i hope few of us ever venture into.

• 

  Klein2 at 10:42 AM JST - 5th October

  Strangely, I immediately thought of Elvis Presley. It turns out I was right. Nakagawa would have been gone at 42 if he had just put on another 40 kg or so.

  Chalk up another death to alcohol. Why do we even bother with looking for a cure to cancer while we have alcohol staring us in the face?

• 

  timorborder at 11:09 AM JST - 5th October

  My bet is a mixture of booze and pills. Here is the reasoning:

  When he made his famous press conference in Rome (the one that got him canned as minister), his excuse was that he stupidly mixed some cold medicine with a couple of glasses of wine.

  Nakagawa was also well-known in political circles as somebody who loved his booze. This has been widely reported in Japan over the years. His Rome escapade (which included some stupid behavior with some priceless works of art) was initially passed off as him just enjoying a liquid lunch/liquid dinner. I also remember seeing him the worse for wear at a diplomatic function I attended at an embassy here in Tokyo years ago.

  The police have reported that there was evidence of vomiting. This is usually an indicator of the body trying to get rid of something in a hurry (something the body considers as toxic). Acute food poisoning often results in vomiting (try eating some green potatoes), drug toxicity is another cause of vomiting.

• 

  maxjapank at 11:29 AM JST - 5th October

  It completely amazes me how little people know about alcohlism, but neither did I till I went through it. So although I am unable to prove it, I am still quite convinced that Nakagawa's death, whether it was from sleeping pills, cough syrup, or passing out and drowning in his own vomit, is directly related to this.

  Sleeping pills are commonly given to alcohlics in Japan. I was given them when I was first sobering up because after drinking so long, you are unable to fall asleep without alcohol. This is part of the withdrawal period, but unfortunately, you become dependant on the sleeping pills. So the first thing recovering alcohlics told me was to stop taking them. Endure the pain of sleepless nights, eventually you will fall asleep. Yet many alcholics who relapse, end up taking both, so doctors are really setting them up for a much worse situation.

  Why cough syrup? There's alcohol in it. Haven't you ever drunken NyQuil when there was no more liquor left? I have. Welcome to alcoholism.

  As for vomiting, many alcoholics have died from drowing in their own vomit. I once fell asleep on my kitchen floor with a lit cigarette. I don't remember it at all. All I remember is waking up in pain, wondering why i had the worst looking burn marks between my two fingers. The cigarette had completely burned down, and I never even woke to the pain of it.

  It may well have been suicide or accidental. But in my own experience, there are just too many coincedences that point to alcoholism.

• 

  Osakadaz at 12:51 PM JST - 5th October

  could be just exactly as you say maxjapank.The Japanese press say that there is a possibility that he had been drinking alcohol too.Well done maxjapank on shaking alcoholism by the way!

• 

  Manny3 at 01:53 PM JST - 5th October

  What's there to investigate? He topped himself like many Japanese do when all hell breaks loose.

• 

  blvtzpk at 02:00 PM JST - 5th October

  The police have reported that there was evidence of vomiting

  I had a conspiracy theory going for a while, but in the mind of the great criminologist, Nigel Tufnel, "You can't really dust for vomit."

• 

  Himajin at 02:40 PM JST - 5th October

  I bet this guy was toast already when the mrs noticed he was in bed at 2100hrs

  He was dead approximately 8-9 hours when found, they said.

• 

  Kronos at 04:06 PM JST - 5th October

  "When Nakagawa’s wife came home at around 9 p.m. Saturday, she saw him sleeping with his upper body leaning against the bed, his face down, but did not sense anything was wrong, police said. Their 25-year-old daughter and 17-year-old son were not at home when he was found dead.

  His 50-year-old wife found him limp after going to check on him at around 8:15 a.m. as he did not emerge from the room, and called for an ambulance about five minutes later, they said."

  I felt very sad when I read this. This is such a bad way to go. The wife was in the house when he died but did not notice it until the morning. I assume they slept together and she did not notice him die during the sleep. I feel sorry for the wife. I would be wrecked with guilt for the rest of my life if such a thing happened.

• 

  knews at 11:21 PM JST - 5th October

  Kronos

  It is more than likely that he and his wife didn't share the same bedroom at night. Quite common for his generation and especially considering the ridiculous hours he would have worked..... i.e. To avoid waking your family (especially partner), it makes more sense (according to many Japanese people) to sleep in separate rooms if you come home very late at night.

• 

  amerijap at 12:10 AM JST - 6th October

  There were traces of vomit on the bed, and packs of what appeared to be sleeping tablets were on the table and in its drawer in the room, police said.

  There's no doubt he had a health problem which might be family-oriented disease. Still not sure the pills he took for sleeping deficits or any other related symptoms were appropriate ones.

• 

  zMeina at 04:49 PM JST - 8th October

  Because it was a person who is the nearest prime minister's seat, it is very regrettable in the Liberal-Democratic Party today.

  And, I think that it renews and the report of Japanese news media is too excessive.

Register or Login to leave a comment