日本金融大臣自殺或因婚外情

Japan's financial services minister died in an apparent suicide two days before a tabloid magazine was set to reveal claims the married 73-year-old was involved with another woman, reports said Tuesday.

據媒體週二報道，日本金融事務擔當大臣松下忠洋疑似自殺身亡。定於他自殺後兩天出版的一家八卦雜誌將披露這位73歲的部長與一名女性的婚外情。

Tadahiro Matsushita was found hanging at his Tokyo home on Monday, the Mainichi Shimbun and other media reported, adding letters addressed to his wife, Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda and cabinet members were also discovered.

據日本《每日新聞》和其他媒體報道，松下忠洋週一被發現吊死在東京家中，此外還發現了他留給妻子、首相野田佳彥和其他內閣成員的遺書。

A woman who answered the telephone at the tabloid magazine Shukan Shincho told reporters that its Wednesday edition would carry a story on a scandal involving Matsushita that was "related to a woman". She declined to elaborate.

八卦雜誌《新潮週刊》一名接電話的女子告訴記者說，他們週三發佈的新刊中有關於松下忠洋的一篇醜聞，“與一名女子有關”。但她拒絕透露詳細信息。

Press reports suggested the magazine would be publishing claims that Matsushita, who was also the state minister in charge of postal reform, was having an extra-marital affair.

媒體報道指出，該雜誌將發佈松下忠洋婚外戀的新聞。松下忠洋還兼任郵政改革事務擔當大臣。

Fellow cabinet members paid tribute to Matsushita on Tuesday, with Finance Minister Jun Azumi saying "he was a seasoned politician and the quality of his work was high".

松下的同僚們週二對松下之死表達了哀悼，財務大臣安住淳說，“他是一名老練的政治家，他工作的質量也很高。”

Azumi will take over Matsushita's job as financial services minister, and Noda will cover his job as minister in charge of supervising privatisation of the post office network, Jiji Press reported.

日本時事社的消息稱，安住淳將接替松下忠洋成爲金融事務擔當大臣，野田佳彥會暫代他主管郵政私有化改革的工作。