News reporters and police gather at the house of former Japanese finance minister Shoichi Nakagawa in Tokyo on October 4, 2009, after Nakagawa, 56, was found dead at his home. (Kazuhiro Nogi/AFP/Getty Images)
Authorities were trying to determine the cause of the 56-year-old, ex-lawmaker's death, whose body was found in a bedroom in his house in Tokyo, a police spokesman said.
Kyodo News Agency reported no external injuries were found on his body, while national broadcaster NHK said a will has not been found.
The furore surrounding Nakagawa's resignation was a major embarrassment to ex-Prime Minister Taro Aso, whose Liberal Democratic Party was ousted in an Aug. 30 election in which Nakagawa also lost his seat in parliament's lower house.
A graduate of prestigious University of Tokyo, Nakagawa was an outspoken conservative who entered politics at the age of 30 after the death of his father, an LDP heavyweight.
