Preceded by Senjuro Hayashi Name Naotake Sato Died December 18, 1971, Japan Succeeded by Koki Hirota | Nationality Japanese Role Japanese Politician Spouse Fumi Sato | |
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Born October 30, 1882
Japan ( 1882-10-30 ) | ||
Naotake Sato (佐藤 尚武, Sato Naotake, October 30, 1882 – December 18, 1971) was a Japanese diplomat and politician. He was born at Osaka. He graduated from the Tokyo Higher Commercial School (東京高等商業学校| Tokyo Koto Shogyo Gakko, now Hitotsubashi University) in 1904, attended the consul course of the same institute, and quit studying there in 1905.
Biography
He was born on October 30, 1882.
He was an active politician and diplomat. In 1905, he passed the Foreign Service exam and started to work at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. After serving as Mukden Consul General and executive secretary of the London Naval Treaty, he served as Imperial Japan’s Ambassador to Belgium in 1930 and to France in 1933. He became Minister of Foreign Affairs (Senjuro Hayashi Cabinet) on March 1937, and resigned on June 1937, then was assigned as Diplomatic Adviser, Foreign Office, under 1st Fumimaro Konoye Cabinet and Hideki Tojo Cabinet.
He had served as the last Imperial Japan’s Ambassador to the U.S.S.R. before the Soviet invasion of Manchuria since 1942 upon the request of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Shigenori Togo. As Minister, he worked hard to avert war at the Imperial Diet. Allegedly, one of his missions as Japan’s Ambassador to the U.S.S.R. is to seek peace with the Allies through the assistance of the U.S.S.R. due to Soviet–Japanese Neutrality Pact under bad war conditions for Imperial Japan. However, Sato judged and reported to Tokyo that it was unlikely that the U.S.S.R. would assist Imperial Japan, because it was highly likely that Imperial Japan would lose the war, and urged it to end the war as early as possible. He was invited to the Kremlin by the U.S.S.R. Foreign Minister, Vyacheslav Molotov, on August 8, 1945, and received a declaration of war against Imperial Japan. After the war, he was elected to the House of Councillors of the National Diet of Japan in 1947, and served as a president of House of Councillors from 1949 to 1953.
He died on December 18, 1971.