Japan's Agriculture Minister Commits Suicide by Hanging Himself

Japan's Prime Minister Possibly Under Additional Political Pressure as a Result

Japan's Agriculture Minister commits suicide by hanging himself. He was due to face questioning by Japan's parliament later in the day, before he committed suicide in his Tokyo apartment, according to media reports.

As of late, Japan's Agriculture Minister Toshikatsu Matsuoka, has come under close scrutiny for possibly embezzling government funds and consequently making misleading statements about the use of those funds. While it isn't clear exactly how this ties into a political scandal some Japanese officials have been embroiled in, opposition lawmakers had been demanding he tender his resignation amidst the 'cooked-books' his office had been keeping, and he was to face questioning about later that day.

This isn't the first time a Japanese official has committed suicide when facing a dishonorable outcome for their goings-on. Suicides by cabinet members following WWII took place. Yet something like this comes as a complete surprise anytime it happens in Japan. "We've confirmed that Agriculture Minister Toshikatsu Matsuoka is dead,'' said Yasuhisa Shiozaki, the chief government spokesman. He went on to say, according to the report filed by Associated Press writer Mari Yamaguchi, "We are greatly saddened.''

Matsuoka, 62, committed suicide in the apartment, in Tokyo, Japan, just minutes away from Japan's parliament building the Japanese media is reporting. Japanese media reports go on to say that he was found hanging in his apartment by his secretary after he didn't show up outside at the appointed time to meet the secretary. Subsequently was rushed to the hospital, and that efforts to resuscitate him failed at the hospital, according to NHK, or Japan Broadcasting Corporation, Japan's public broadcaster.

Unfortunately, there has been a rash of suicides in Japan in the last several years. Most are assumed to be due to the financial back-slide Japan has gone through. Unofficial numbers have over 30,000 Japanese citizens, including officials, committing suicide during the last decade, making Japan one of the highest of all western industrialized nations in the world for death by suicide.