Was former Japanese Finance Minister Shoichi Nakagawa of the Liberal Democratic Party assassinated for condemning the United States and the G20 at the height of the 2007-2008 financial crisis? No, that's not true: The police ruled out murder or foul play after Nakagawa's body was examined.
The claim appeared on TikTok (archived here) on October 8, 2023, although Nakagawa died in 2009. The video shows several clips of former Finance Minister Shoichi Nakagawa, as well as several commentators and public figures discussing the details of his passing. At the 2-minute mark, text is inserted between clips of Nakagawa linking his sudden death to his rather outspoken condemnation of the United States (translated from Japanese by Lead Stories Staff):
There are a lot of abnormal details around drunk Nakagawa Shoichi during a press conference and his death. Is there a link with him risking his life to criticize the US? Losing Nakagawa is the biggest blow to Japanese politics moving forward...
This is what the post looked like on TikTok at the time of writing:
(Source: TikTok screenshot taken on Tue Oct 10 02:06:52 2023 UTC)
It is true that Nakagawa's political career was marred by his sharp tongue, alcoholism, and penchant for rebuking the United States. But there is no evidence that his death was linked to his criticism of the U.S. Press agency AFP reported in 2009 on official police statements the autopsy didn't show any wounds or lacerations, ruling out the possibility of murder or foul play. According to an MSN report in 2009, archived here, Nakagawa's family supposed his death to be caused by an acute myocardial infarction, and the administrative autopsy also pointed to the possibility of a chronic circulatory disease.
