Shortly after midnight on February 19, 1998, Representative Masayoshi Arai, who was scheduled to be arrested that day for fraudulent transactions with Nikko Securities, "committed suicide." I put "suicide" in parentheses because there were a number of extremely puzzling points about his death.
According to newspaper reports, Mr. Arai's wife was the one who discovered his suicide. She had gone out and when she returned to her hotel room at 1:05pm, she found him hanging from the air vent using the sash from his yukata robe. It's a bit odd that he was in a hotel on the day he was due to be arrested, but that's ok. The problem is that the police were not contacted for 2 hours and 15 minutes after he was discovered (the police were contacted at 3:20pm), and the scene was not secured. The fact that such a talkative person did not leave a suicide note raises questions about this blank period.
Why did it take so long?
His death was neither an illness nor an accident, so the possibilities are murder or suicide. In the case of murder, it would have been necessary to destroy the evidence, which would have taken a considerable amount of time. The two hour and fifteen minute gap is understandable. On the other hand, in the case of suicide, it would seem that the police should have been contacted immediately. If there was a need to leave some time, it would be natural to assume that there was, or could have been, something at the scene that would have been inappropriate for the police to see. What would this "something that would have been inappropriate for the police to see"? It would have been a document denounceing the wrongdoings of other lawmakers.
If such a talkative person had chosen to die by suicide (he had repeatedly used the word "final" at the press conference the day before), it is almost inconceivable that he would not have left a suicide note. It seems perfectly natural to think that the note was either disposed of or erased even though he had no intention of dying.
Masataka Arai died before he could complete his mission. It is said that this almost completes the investigation into the case. However, this would be a waste of his death. A thorough investigation is needed.
So, seven years later, has this been resolved?
Was it an obvious suicide after all?
The truth is hidden away.