It was not immediately known if the death of Takayuki Kamoshida, 58, was linked in anyway to a corruption scandal engulfing the Bank of Japan (BoJ) and the Finance ministry.

Kamoshida was one of the seven BoJ executive directors.

``We are investigating the case as a suicide,'' a metropolitan police spokesman said.

The bank last month punished nearly 100 officials for accepting entertainment from commercial banks, imposing measures ranging from warnings to temporary pay cuts. It has launched an in-house investigation after a Bank of Japan official was arrested in March for taking bribes, the first such action against the central bank in its 116-year history.