A former Japanese MP who resigned after making accusations of government corruption that were never proven has jumped to his death from an apartment block, a police source said Sunday. Hisayasu Nagata, once a rising star in the opposition Democratic Party of Japan, committed suicide Saturday in the southwestern town of Kitakyushu.
Nagata, 39, left behind a suicide note, the police source said. He was reportedly suffering from psychological problems and had attempted suicide in November. "There is no indication that would point to homicide," the source said.
Police officially declined comment. Japan has one of the world's highest suicide rates. Nagata created a stir in 2006 when he unveiled e-mails purporting to show that the son of the head of Japan's ruling party received secret campaign cash from Livedoor, a scandal-plagued Internet firm. But the Democratic Party later said it could not vouch for the authenticity of the e-mails, leading Nagata to resign from parliament.