Finance Minister Shoichi Nakagawa appears to be sleeping during a press conference in this image taken from TV.

Finance minister under fire for sloppy behavior at G-7 meeting

Monday 16th February, 12:51 PM JST

TOKYO —

Finance Minister Shoichi Nakagawa came under fire Monday for what appeared to be drunken behavior at a press conference after a two-day meeting of the Group of Seven economic powers in Rome through Saturday.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura said at a news conference that when Nakagawa called him in the morning, Kawamura gave him a warning, telling him to watch how he conducts himself.

According to Kawamura, Nakagawa, 55, apologized for causing anxiety but denied being under the influence of alcohol during the news conference despite having had some drinks, saying he had taken too much cold medicine.

‘‘It is regrettable the finance minister made people concerned,’’ Kawamura said, while indicating his questionable behavior was due to his busy schedule and his cold.

Separately, Nakagawa told reporters in the Diet that whether he will stay in his position is up to Prime Minister Taro Aso, denying any intention to step down from the post immediately.

He also said he did not drink shortly before the press conference, though he did on the flight bound for Rome. ‘‘I took a larger-than-usual portion of cold medicine. I am sorry for my behavior.’‘

Earlier in the day, former Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori criticized Nakagawa for his seemingly drunken behavior at the press conference.

‘‘Since he really loves to drink, I advised him once to be careful about drinking,’’ Mori said on a morning TV program when asked to comment on footage of Nakagawa’s appearance at the press conference.

Observers say Mori’s remarks seem to question Nakagawa’s qualification as finance minister and the issue may deal a further blow to the already embattled administration of Prime Minister Taro Aso.

Opposition party leaders also lashed out at Nakagawa.

‘‘It is not a matter of shame,’’ said Yukio Hatoyama, the secretary-general of the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan on Monday morning. ‘‘He is supposed to be dismissed right away.’‘

Major overseas news media reported Nakagawa slurring at the post-G-7 news conference and domestic broadcasters repeatedly aired the stories with zoom-in footage of Nakagawa’s face.

ABC News ran a story online titled “Asleep at the Wheel: Japanese FM Nods Off During G-7 Talks,” in which they jibed that if the contracting economy and pursuant massive job losses at Japan’s biggest car manufacturers weren’t enough to keep him awake, there was always Italian favorite espresso.

Nakagawa slurred his speech and verged on the incomprehensible during a press conference with Japanese press Saturday afternoon, leading some to label him a disgrace. The incident has revived memories of a speech of his during the election campaign in 2000, in which he appeared quite drunk.

Nakagawa stumbled along in the interview: “The G-7 meetings…which were officially held today… started last night….there was something like a joint declaration. I heard America’s proposals…umm…and G-20 policies for moving forward…”

Nakagawa also cut in to a question aimed at Masaaki Shirakawa, the governor of the Bank of Japan, who was also in attendance. Nakagawa then misquoted the central bank’s interest rate, currently at 0.1%. “It’s going up from 0 to 0.25%? Well it’s still extremely low.”

Government aides said it was the worst they had ever seen Nakagawa.

Wire reports

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Latest 15 of 64 Total Comments Show All

goingtoshopping at 07:18 PM JST - 16th February

You know you're in trouble when you get advice from former Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori!!

Remember when he greeted President Bill Clinton with this gem?:

Mori: Who are you? Clinton: I'm Hillary's husband! Mori: Me, too. Clinton: (...)

Throw the bums out!
sharky1 at 09:10 PM JST - 16th February

Ohhh a Brome abuser eh?
cow76 at 09:22 PM JST - 16th February

Was about to say the same thing, goingtoshopping. When Mr Mori starts critisizing you, it's time to go.

The problem seems to be that you have to be related to a minister in order to be a minister. That leaves a pretty small group of people to choose from and you're going to get a lot of complete tools in high positions.
herefornow at 09:22 PM JST - 16th February

Truly a pity that the world's second largest economy is run by clowns like this. But, then again, the people have been re-electing the LDP for around 50 years now, so they get what they deserve.
temporaryVisa at 09:39 PM JST - 16th February

That whole G-7 meeting was a bunch of inconsequential hypocritical posturing anyhow. He should have gone the nine yards and put his underpants on his head with some pencils sticking out of his nose.
jonnyboy at 10:09 PM JST - 16th February

nepotism at work. but then to do otherwise would upset the wa
kwatt at 10:15 PM JST - 16th February

I think that Finance Minister was just drunk in dream at the press conference. Japanese ministers seem to be bad drunkard at party. If you make some progress with Japan, get him drunk first. He will accept your request.
Simon_Foston at 10:41 PM JST - 16th February

The sad thing is that as blundering, incompetent and drunk as Nakagawa may be, he's probably doing no worse a job than all those other finance ministers. He should still be fired though.
maineahrtist at 10:51 PM JST - 16th February

kampai!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Potsu at 11:19 PM JST - 16th February

Shameful,embarrassing and all the rest,no doubt...but the funniest thing out of this country for a long time.
LHommeQuiMent at 11:32 PM JST - 16th February

Thank you Nakagawa-san. I've seen the video so many times and I still can't stop laughing! Funnier then Monthy Python. Thank you and kanpai!
usaexpat at 01:03 AM JST - 17th February

Yeah he looks wasted in the photo. Oh well, even sober not much productive would have come from him.
AlfGarnett at 01:05 AM JST - 17th February

i just saw the geezer on the BBC website. He is well and truly plastered.

Everyone is taking the micky out of him worldwide. Japan and the LDP area joke, with idiots like this and Aso in charge.
ca1ic0cat at 02:44 AM JST - 17th February

He should be glad he wasn't drinking shochu. He might have ended up brain damaged.
toguro at 07:31 AM JST - 17th February

calic0cat: Amen to that. I will never drink that stuff again.