Sato Eisaku
(1901–1975), prime minister of Japan. Sato Eisaku was prime minister of Japan from November 1964—following Ikeda Hayato's sudden resignation for health reasons—until July 1972, making him the longest-serving premier in the country's history. During his tenure, Sato realized the normalization of relations with South Korea in 1965 and the returnof Ogasawara in 1968 and Okinawa in 1972, issues that had been pending since the 1952 peace treaty. In 1967 he announced Japan's three non-nuclear principles, for which he received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1974. Domestically, however, Sato was unpopular due to problems of pollution and overcrowding, as well as his support of America's involvement in the Vietnam War.
Prime Minister Sato in San Francisco in November 1969 following talks with U.S. President Richard Nixon. (BETTMANN/CORBIS)The younger brother of Kishi Nobusuke, Sato was born in Yamaguchi Prefecture in 1901, making him the first postwar prime minister born in the twentieth century. After graduating from Tokyo Imperial University in 1924, Sato joined the ministry of railways, rising to vice minister. In 1948 he was made cabinet secretary in the second Yoshida cabinet, and in 1949 successfully ran for the Diet.
In early 1954, his career was tainted when he was reported to have taken bribes in the Shipbuilding Scandal, but he was saved by the intervention of the prime minister and later served in several cabinets. Sato was known for his skilled management of people, balancing of factions, and his "wait and see" style of politics.
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