Finance Minister Nakagawa Drunk At G7 Talks?

[Mulboyne]

ABCNews: Japanese FM Nods Off During G7 Talks
Finance chiefs from around the world gathered this weekend in Rome to figure out how to solve the worsening global economic crisis, but simply staying awake proved too tough a task. It appears that Japanese Finance Minister Shoichi Nakagawa fell asleep at today's meeting of the Group of Seven's finance leaders. Granted, the jet lag from a 15-hour flight isn't easy to overcome, but when your nation's economy is predicted to contract by 2.5% this year, per the IMF, and its biggest automakers like Toyota and Nissan are slashing jobs by the tens of thousands, that should be enough to keep you awake...more...

He slurred his words during a press conference leading some of the Japanese press reporters to wonder whether he was drunk. He certainly doesn't sound good:



Some Japanese netizens have added comments to the ABC News blog post above. Here's one:

"We Japanese are generous to addiction to something. Finance Minister Nakagawa is addicted to SAKE, while Premier Asou is addected to manga comic. Welfare Minister Masuzoe is addicted to sex and can do intercource for more than four hours without aid of medicine. Agriculture Minister Ishiba, ex-Defense Minister, is a millitary mania and a plastic models mania."

[Yokohammer]

Oh terrific. The credibility of Japan's politicians drops another significant notch.

This is infuriating. Does any one of these self-serving silver-spooned goons actually give a shit about normal hard-working people? Nakagawa is supposed to be shouldering some serious responsibility in the face of the worst worldwide economic crisis in a century, and this is the best he can do?

It's bad enough that we have a smug, disdainful PM who can't open his mouth without proving that he hasn't got a fucking clue how most of the people in his country live (they're just "commoners" anyway).

Japan deserves better. Much better.

[TennoChinko]

Our Financial Minister is very sincere and a hard worker. Japan, as well as other countries,is facing economic cricis. Under the cercumstance his schedule is muerderous. In addition he has a health problem in the back which forces him to take strong pain killer. We are very concerned what's happenning to him. Please ignore the comments which are insulting him.

Posted by: Ordinary Japanese | Feb 15, 2009 5:58:14 PM

versus

While Nakagawa may have certainly been jetlagged, he was drunk and/or hungover to boot. Not surprising when the current Prime Minister Taro Aso is also a well-known drunk who has conducted interviews while loaded. Japan has an abundance of so-called "functional alcoholics". It's too bad they are now in charge and dragging down the country.

Posted by: Hirohito's Kintama | Feb 15, 2009 6:15:00 PM

[Mulboyne]

Some reports are openly wondering whether Nakagawa was showing early signs of a stroke. However, since he is known to be a drinker, and has appeared "tired and emotional" in public before, most are still sticking with the view that he was drunk.

[Buraku]

I like Nakagawa despite his usual thirst and I think unlike other Japanese politicians he actually works from time to time but on this one I agree yeah he's totally fucking shit faced
this Economic Armageddon just gets more strange every month. If Hillary Clinton during visit decides to have a press conference with Minshuito..>spell? (DPJ) then its suddenly snap election and LDP is fucked for the next years.
(yes I know LDP losing is real apocalyptic chicken-little talk to be saying)
BTW
I'm reading the Japanese economy actually shark by 12.5% annualized, (600 Billion? dollars)
far worse than Bloomberg's 10% prediction
The LDP is a complete cricus now, the only thing stranger than what's going on now...is maybe the Japanese put up CrispinGlover a Thai transexual or that bald naked white guy who jumped in the river up as an election candidate

[Mulboyne]

SMH: 'Drunk' finance minister blames cold medicine

Japan's Finance Minister Shoichi Nakagawa has denied being drunk at a G7 meeting on the financial crisis and has blamed cold medicine for appearing drowsy and slurring his speech at a press conference. Nakagawa's performance after the weekend Group of Seven meeting in Rome came under fire from the media and the opposition called for him to be sacked. One tabloid headline blared "Drunk!?" while television shows said they worried not just about the health of the global economy, but also of the finance minister, who is reputed to be a hard drinker.

Nakagawa, 55, looked drowsy and could not speak clearly during Saturday's joint press conference with Bank of Japan governor Masaaki Shirakawa after the G7 meeting. "Something like a joint statement was issued...," he told reporters as he appeared to struggle to keep his eyes open. "Interest rates, uh, set by the BoJ are between zero and 0.25 per cent and very low ...," he said to the visible dismay of the central bank chief sitting next to him. The BoJ's target rate is now 0.1 per cent. He also mistakenly thought a question for Shirakawa was directed at himself.

"This should deserve immediate firing. It's a scandalous act," the secretary general of the main opposition Democratic Party, Yukio Hatoyama, told reporters. Nakagawa denied he had been drunk. "I had a cold. Honestly, the cold medicine kicked in too much," he told reporters early on Monday. "I did not drink before the G7," he added, sniffing loudly. Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura, the top government spokesman, said what happened in Rome was "extremely regrettable" while noting the minister had apologised by telephone. Nakagawa's bungling came as government data showed on Monday that Japan's economy shrank at the fastest pace since 1974 in the October-December quarter of 2008.

Nakagawa denies being drunk

[Tsuru]

Originally Posted by Yokohammer

The credibility of Japan's politicians

Surely this must be a contradiction in terms?

[Mulboyne]

Whether he was drunk or medicated, I can't understand his aides allowing him to appear in public in that state. They should have made excuses and bundled him out of the way before he got near a camera.

[dimwit]

Originally Posted by Mulboyne

Whether he was drunk or medicated, I can't understand his aides allowing him to appear in public in that state. They should have made excuses and bundled him out of the way before he got near a camera.

C'mom pulling a Boris is a sure way to gain international respect. The medication excuse is a good one. I'm just wondering how many gallons he drank.

A question I have is how do these guys travel? By regular airline or by government jet? If by regular jet his aides might of had a problem controlling him in public.

[Yokohammer]

Originally Posted by Tsuru

Surely this must be a contradiction in terms?

You mean "credibility" and "Japan's politicians" in the same sentence?
I have to admit it is getting harder to use those terms even on the same page.

Originally Posted by Mulboyne

Whether he was drunk or medicated, I can't understand his aides allowing him to appear in public in that state. They should have made excuses and bundled him out of the way before he got near a camera.

Exactly. He was obviously in no state to speak in public, let alone represent an entire country in public, and allowing him to do so is nothing less than incompetence on the part of his support team. Utterly shameful and a grievous failure in a situation in which his country and in fact the rest of the world are depending on swift, appropriate, and responsible action.

But the cold medicine excuse is pretty lame no matter how you cut it. Do politicians get special turbo-charged cold medicine or something? I have never seen cold medicine do that much damage to anyone. Cold medicine plus booze, maybe, but not just cold medicine.

What an embarrassing mess ... and waste of time and the taxpayer's money.