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Disgraced lawmaker Toshinao Nakagawa cancels comeback event

Toshinao Nakagawa
Toshinao Nakagawa cancelled a comeback event scheduled or next month in Tokyo

TOKYO (TR) – Lawmaker Toshinao Nakagawa has cancelled a comeback event in which he was to offer an apology regarding revelations that he was involved in adulterous relationships with women that led to his resignation from the Liberal Democratic Party, it was learned last week, reports the Sankei Shimbun (July 19).

According to the office of Nakagawa, the gathering, titled “Toshinao Nakagawa’s Apology and Comeback Event,” was called off because of a misunderstanding that it was a large fundraiser.

Scheduled to be held in a hotel in the capital on August 23, the event was to cost 20,000 yen for entry. “The past cannot be changed, but in the future I can change myself,” read the invitation.

The event was to follow two reports of infidelity regarding the lawmaker. Shukan Shincho (Apr. 27) revealed that Nakagawa entered into a relationship in 2011 with a woman he met while employed employed at a broadcaster. That report came on the heels of the March 24 issue of weekly tabloid Friday, which outlined an illicit meeting between Nakagawa and LDP politician Megumi Maekawa.

Nakagawa was first elected to the lower house of the Diet in the fourth district of Hiroshima in 2012. The lawmaker is currently serving his second term. He was appointed vice minister of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry last August. He had previously served as a reporter for TV Tokyo, which is where he met the mistress who leaked her story to Shincho.

“Personal matters”

On April 18, Nakagawa cited “personal matters” as his reason for stepping down from his post with METI. Three days later, he announced that he would be quitting the LDP.