Sean: 現職閣僚の自殺は戦後初めて

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Posted by Sean:
現職閣僚の自殺は戦後初めて
http://whiteperil.com/posts/1180336480.shtml


   Wow. Honor-saving suicide is common here, but rarely is it the way
   [1]taken out by someone so high up in the government hierarchy:

     Toshikatsu Matsuoka, the farm minister who stubbornly refused calls
     for his resignation over money scandals, died Monday after hanging
     himself at his Tokyo residence, government officials said.
     ...
     He is the first incumbent Cabinet member to have committed suicide
     since the current Constitution took effect, and the seventh Diet
     member since the end of World War II.
     ...
     Opposition lawmakers in the Diet as well as the media had demanded
     Matsu-oka explain shady expenditures by his fund-management group
     for utilities and other costs for his office. He refused.
     He was also criticized for political donations that allegedly came
     from organizations connected to a bid-rigging scandal.

   The Asahi article doesn't elaborate on the utilities thing, but my
   understanding--I haven't been following the story all that closely,
   but it's been in the news a lot--is that he double-charged for
   utilities, getting reimbursements for charges that were already
   covered by the Diet. There's already been a raid on a construction
   firm in relation to the bid-rigging charge.

References

   1. http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200705280290.html