Nakagawa seen 'misbehaving' at Vatican; Russian official says he acted like 'brain was turned off'

Saturday 21st February, 11:34 AM JST

TOKYO —

Former Japanese Finance Minister Shoichi Nakagawa misbehaved while visiting the Vatican Museum immediately after his ridiculed post-Group of Seven press conference in Rome on Feb 14 that led to his resignation, people concerned at the Vatican said Friday. Nakagawa at one point climbed over a barrier around a statue of the Trojan priest Laocoon, causing an alarm to go off, and touched some art objects that are not supposed to be touched, they said, adding however that the museum will not raise a protest.

Nakagawa visited the museum in the afternoon with some senior officials from the Japanese Finance Ministry for about one and a half hours. They were accompanied by museum officials.

Nakagawa resigned Tuesday after drawing media attention for slurring his words and seemingly dozing off during a press briefing held after the G-7 financial chiefs’ meeting over the deteriorating world economy.

His behavior raised suspicions that he may have been drunk at the time.

Meanwhile, a Russian official said Friday that Nakagawa was in a similarly foggy state during a bilateral meeting with Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Kudrin earlier on Feb 14.

According to the sources, a Russian diplomat who attended the meeting said Nakagawa behaved “as if the power switch of his brain had been turned off” during the 15-minute meeting.

Nakagawa looked exhausted and his health was apparently poor, which prompted the Russian official to suspect he was suffering badly from jet lag, the sources said.

At one time during the meeting, Nakagawa closed his eyes and did not respond for a while, the sources said.

The Russian side, although it had its own translator, could only understand what Nakagawa was saying through the translator on the Japanese side, the sources said.

Nakagawa has claimed he acted strangely because he took too much cold medicine earlier in the day.

Wire reports

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Latest 15 of 53 Total Comments Show All

japanidol at 03:30 AM JST - 22nd February

I heard he was smoking weed
zaichik at 05:20 AM JST - 22nd February

If the situation was so bad, I wonder if the Japanese side's translator was making it up to make some attempt at saving Nakagawa.

I'd be willing to put money on it.
airrunwesker at 07:00 AM JST - 22nd February

...Russuan cold medicine must be the bomb! Send me some next time I have a cold :)
grafton at 09:05 AM JST - 22nd February

I have to come clean here, I have to admit that I am not perfect. Maybe some of you will say that if that is the case I really shouldn’t be on this site with you perfect people. I just hope that you will understand that I am trying to do my best. By comparison with you I will of course fail, no, I know I can’t ask that you to forgive my failings because you never forgive anybody else’s so why should you make an exception in my case? I would however ask you to realise that most normal people try & fail at many things a lot of the time, I ask this not for myself you understand, but for the many people that are not as perfect as you. They (we) simply can’t, we are the normal people, not special like you. Nakagawa is one of us, was it drink or a cough mixture, or a combination of both? I don’t know, but if you perfect people were to look back through history at politicians the world over (including in your own counties) you would find that there are many examples of drunken politicians, in fact it’s nearly a norm. Being such perfect people I would like to believe that you could find it in your hearts (if perfect people have such things) to forgive Nakagawa & for that matter me too, for failing to meet your extremely high & (for us lower order people) exacting requirements. Some might say that you all sound like a bunch of pontificating know it all old women, I wouldn’t say that, that would be rude & unfair. You can’t help living in a world that will continually disappoint you, you can’t help being perfect.
hoserfella at 10:56 AM JST - 22nd February

Grafton, very..uh..interesting post. BUT I AGREE, DARNIT! If a man can't get completely and utterly sh**faced before a high-profile International summit without the cold, accusing judgement of others, WHATS THE WORLD COMING TO?!
Triumvere at 12:59 PM JST - 22nd February

Totaly agree, Grafton.
shouganaika at 02:29 PM JST - 22nd February

he was paid a large amount of money to do a job and behave responsibly for those of us who pay his salary. he failed. he quit. that's it. what is wrong with criticising someone who makes a mistake? nothing at all
Evalin at 02:58 PM JST - 22nd February

temporary amnesia?
illsayit at 03:24 PM JST - 22nd February

The only thing interesting here, is that it is Russia making such provocative comments.
isthistheend at 07:35 PM JST - 22nd February

Great summary hoserfella. At the same time, I agree with shouganaika. What we foreigners think about the mattter is a hill of beans. The Japanese people that I come in contact with (ordinary salary men/women, make that men (the women would barely comment;even the some of the men/what's new?) were beyond forgiveness. Outside of the cities where people are really hurting, people were livid, and with all rights. This country, and now the world is really suffering (o.k. like even the non-G8 countries) and here's a "responsible" politician making more than 2000 man en, getting drunk at his job. That's the point. People here are dying for a job to go to, to take their minds of despair, and here is the top of the gov't travelling to Paris on tax payers money and throwing it all away due to his couldn't give a xxxx about representing his gov't. That's the point. Not that any of us are any better, but on the occasion of representing one's country, more due diligence is required.
Triumvere at 11:26 AM JST - 23rd February

Moderator:

If you felt my (rather sarcastic) post was inappropriate, you should have removed it, not ninja editied it so that it now expresses exactly the OPPOSITE of what it originally did. Worst of all, you made no indication that you editied the comment, so it looks like it is my own.

What is the point of allowing people to post their opinions if you are just going to come in and re-write them to say whatever you (the moderator) feel like?
ptolemy at 04:42 PM JST - 23rd February

Except Grafton, you are paid by the tax payers to represent your nation before the rest of the world's media acting like a drunken jack ass. Those in positions of trust are held to higher standards. Something missing in today's societies is this: Those given repsonsibility are held to higher accountability. Public service is a position of humility, something lost in societies today. That is the reason Nakagawa acted like this, the arrognace of public servats who think they are kings and not servants.
elbudamexicano at 09:08 PM JST - 25th February

I wish they just went for something like the death penalty for idiot politicians like Nakagawa, maybe send him off to some hard core Islamic country that has no izakayas, pubs etc..I am sure this would help him sober up!
Seiharinokaze at 03:19 PM JST - 26th February

Nakagawa insisted on using the profits of foreign reserve to invest as an intellectual fund in the strategic development of technology and nurturing of researchers. He said it is a more appropriate way of using the foreign reserve, far better than being obsessed with the idea that Japan has no choice but to continue having the US treasury bonds out of consideration for the U.S. This type of politician seems destined to be strangled in a grisly fashion casting caution to the winds by warning of a deadly fraud devised by the A-chielfs?
TheguyNextdoor at 03:19 PM JST - 27th February

He must of been sippin on some zizurp