Veteran Japanese politician and Financial Services Minister Tadahiro Matsushita died on Monday, with reports attributing the country's top financial regulator's death to suicide.
Japan's Kyodo News agency reported quoting "investigation sources" that Matsushita's bodyguard discovered the Minister hanged at his Tokyo residence on Monday.
But Japanese daily Asahi Shimbun says Matsushita was found collapsed at his home in the evening by his wife. He was taken to the hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Metropolitan Police has not disclosed details about the death of the 73-year-old Minister, but said they were investigating the incident as a possible suicide.
Matsushita had taken a tough line in the Financial Services Agency's investigation into an insider trading scandal that has included Nomura Holdings Inc., Japan's largest brokerage.
A member of the People's New Party, a junior coalition partner in Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's government, Matsushita was serving as Senior Vice-Minister in the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, when he was promoted as Cabinet Minister in charge of Financial Services and Postal Reform in the June reshuffle.
Matsushita was a five-time member of the House of Representatives, the Lower House of Japan's Diet (Parliament) since he won his first term in 1993.
He has been involved in government since 1962 when he joined the Ministry of Construction.
For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
Political News
May 15, 2026 15:25 ET Apart from the confirmation of Kevin Warsh as the next Fed chair, the main news on the economics front this week included key price data from the U.S. and the first quarter economic growth figures from major economies. Both consumer prices and producer costs have started to reflect the effect of supply shocks due to the Middle East conflict. In Europe, GDP data was in focus, while inflation data from China dominated the news flow in Asia.