Japan's Finance Minister Shoichi Nakagawa speaks to reporters after the G7 finance ministers meeting in Rome in this February 14, 2009 file photo. Nakagawa was found dead in a bed in his house in Tokyo, Japanese media reported on Sunday, citing Tokyo Metropolitan Police. Police said authorities were trying to confirm his death. No external injuries were found on his body, Kyodo News Agency reported. The 56-year-old, ex-lawmaker from the Liberal Democratic Party resigned as finance minister in February after being forced to deny he was drunk at a G7 news conference.(Xinhua/Reuters Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

    TOKYO, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- Former Japanese Finance Minister Shoichi Nakagawa was found dead Sunday at his home in Tokyo's Setagaya Ward, local media reported.

    Police said that Nakagawa was lying face down on a bed and no apparent external wounds were detected.

    On Feb. 17, Nakagawa stepped down as finance minister in former Prime Minister Taro Aso's cabinet over allegations he appeared drunk at a recent G7 summit in Rome.

File photo of former Japanese Minister of Finance Shoichi Nakagawa giving a press conference at the end of a meeting of G7 finance ministers in Rome. (Xinhua/AFP File Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

    Nakagawa slurred his speech, at times appeared half asleep and had trouble answering questions from reporters at a news conference following the Group of Seven (G7) financial leaders' meeting in the Italian capital on Feb. 14.

    A graduate from the University of Tokyo, Nakagawa won his first lower house seat in 1983. He held prominent posts in the cabinet and the LDP, including agriculture minister, trade minister and party policy chief and was once regarded as a likely prime ministerial candidate.

A reporter reports in front of the house of former Japanese finance minister Shoichi Nakagawa in Tokyo October 4, 2009.(Xinhua/Reuters Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

Japanese PM apologizes for Nakagawa's resignation

Japanese Finance Minister Shoichi Nakagawa leaves a news conference room after announcing his resignation in Tokyo February 17, 2009. (Xinhua/AFP Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

    TOKYO, Feb. 19 (Xinhua) -- Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso on Thursday apologized at the parliament (Diet) for Shoichi Nakagawa's resignation as finance minister over his befuddled behavior at a G7 summit in Rome.

    "While the fiscal 2009 budget is being discussed, the finance minister has resigned," said Aso at the House of Representatives Budget Committee. Full story