Although he appeared unfriendly to some, he was in fact a serious, responsible man with delicate sensibilities who studied policies day and night. That is the picture emerging of the late former Finance Minister Shoichi Nakagawa from interviews with relatives and officials.
"He was considerably serious, studying extremely hard," his uncle, Upper House lawmaker Yoshio Nakagawa, told The Japan Times on Thursday.
Yoshio Nakagawa said the late minister often took note of the things he heard from people he met, examined the information, neatly classified it and filed it away for reference.