was a Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

ese diplomat and politician. He was born at Osaka

Osaka

is a city in the Kansai region of Japan's main island of Honshu, a designated city under the Local Autonomy Law, the capital city of Osaka Prefecture and also the biggest part of Keihanshin area, which is represented by three major cities of Japan, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe...

. He graduated from the Tokyo Higher Commercial School (東京高等商業学校| Tōkyō Kōtō Shōgyō Gakkō, now Hitotsubashi University

Hitotsubashi University

is a national university specialised in the social sciences in Tokyo, Japan. The University has campuses in Kunitachi, Kodaira, and Kanda.Hitotsubashi is considered as one of the most prestigious universities in Japan. It is ranked 25th in the world in 2011 by École des Mines de Paris.Hitotsubashi...

) in 1904, attended the consul course of the same institute, and quit studying there in 1905.

Home political career

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

Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Japan)

The is a cabinet level ministry of Japan responsible for the country's foreign relations.The ministry is due to the second term of the third article of the National Government Organization Act , and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Establishment Act establishes the ministry...

. After serving as Mukden Consul General and executive secretary of the London Naval Treaty

London Naval Treaty

The London Naval Treaty was an agreement between the United Kingdom, the Empire of Japan, France, Italy and the United States, signed on April 22, 1930, which regulated submarine warfare and limited naval shipbuilding. Ratifications were exchanged in London on October 27, 1930, and the treaty went...

, he served as Imperial Japan’s Ambassador to Belgium

Belgium

Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

 in 1930 and to France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 in 1933. He became Minister of Foreign Affairs (Senjūrō Hayashi

Senjuro Hayashi

was an Imperial Japanese Army commander of the Chosen Army of Japan in Korea during the Mukden Incident and the invasion of Manchuria, and a Japanese politician and the 33rd Prime Minister of Japan from February 2, 1937 to June 4, 1937.-Biography:...

 Cabinet) on March 1937, and resigned on June 1937, then was assigned as Diplomatic Adviser, Foreign Office, under 1st Fumimaro Konoye Cabinet and Hideki Tōjō

Hideki Tōjō

Hideki Tōjō was a general of the Imperial Japanese Army , the leader of the Taisei Yokusankai, and the 40th Prime Minister of Japan during most of World War II, from 17 October 1941 to 22 July 1944...

 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 Tōgō

Shigenori Togo

was Minister of Foreign Affairs for the Empire of Japan at both the start and the end of the Japanese-American conflict during World War II...

. 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

Allies

In everyday English usage, allies are people, groups, or nations that have joined together in an association for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out between them...

 through the assistance of the U.S.S.R. due to Soviet–Japanese Neutrality Pact under bad war conditions for Imperial Japan. 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 Imperial Japan would lose the war, and urged it to end the war as early as possible. He was invited to the Kremlin

Moscow Kremlin

The Moscow Kremlin , sometimes referred to as simply The Kremlin, is a historic fortified complex at the heart of Moscow, overlooking the Moskva River , Saint Basil's Cathedral and Red Square and the Alexander Garden...

 by the U.S.S.R. Foreign Minister, Vyacheslav Molotov

Vyacheslav Molotov

Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Molotov was a Soviet politician and diplomat, an Old Bolshevik and a leading figure in the Soviet government from the 1920s, when he rose to power as a protégé of Joseph Stalin, to 1957, when he was dismissed from the Presidium of the Central Committee by Nikita Khrushchev...

, on August 8, 1945, and received a declaration of war against Imperial Japan. After the war, he was elected as a member of House of Councillors

House of Councillors

The is the upper house of the Diet of Japan. The House of Representatives is the lower house. The House of Councillors is the successor to the pre-war House of Peers. If the two houses disagree on matters of the budget, treaties, or designation of the prime minister, the House of Representatives...

of the National Diet of Japan in 1947, and served as a president of House of Councillors from 1949 to 1953.