Naotake Satō

Naotake Satō
佐藤 尚武
President of the House of Councillors
In office 15 November 1949 – 19 May 1953
Preceded by	Tsuneo Matsudaira
Succeeded by	Yahachi Kawai
Minister for Foreign Affairs
In office 3 March 1937 – 4 June 1937
Prime Minister	Senjūrō Hayashi
Preceded by	Senjūrō Hayashi
Succeeded by	Kōki Hirota
Personal details
Born	(1882-10-30)30 October 1882 Osaka, Japan
Died	18 December 1971(1971-12-18) (aged 89) Tokyo, Japan
Spouse	Fumi Satō

Naotake Satō (佐藤 尚武, Satō Naotake, 30 October 1882 – 18 December 1971) was a Japanese diplomat and politician who served as President of the House of Councillors from 1949 to 1953.

He was a career diplomat who served as ambassador to Belgium and France in the 1930s. He briefly served as foreign minister under Prime Minister Senjuro Hayashi in 1937. He then served as ambassador to Italy and later to the Soviet Union, holding the latter position during most of the Second World War. After the war he was elected to the House of Councillors and served as its president.

Biography

Naotake Satō was born on 30 October 1882, in Osaka. He graduated from the Tokyo Higher Commercial School (東京高等商業学校, Tōkyō Kōtō Shōgyō Gakkō, now Hitotsubashi University) in 1904, attended the consul course of the same institute, and finished studying there in 1905. That same year 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 (Senjūrō Hayashi Cabinet) in March 1937, and resigned in June 1937, then was assigned as adviser to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He was ambassador to Italy in 1940.

He served from 1942 as the last Imperial Japanese Ambassador to the U.S.S.R. before the Soviet invasion of Manchuria, upon the request of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Shigenori Tōgō. As Minister, he worked hard to avert war at the Imperial Diet. One of his missions as Japan's Ambassador to the U.S.S.R. was to seek peace with the Allies through the assistance of the U.S.S.R. due to Soviet–Japanese Neutrality Pact.

However, Satō 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 Japan would lose the war, and urged an end to the war as early as possible. On 8 August 1945, he was invited to the Kremlin by the U.S.S.R. Foreign Minister, Vyacheslav Molotov, and received the Soviet 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 the House of Councillors from 1949 to 1953.

He died on 18 December 1971, in Tokyo.