Eisaku Satō (governor)
{{Short description|Japanese politician (1939–2025)}}
{{distinguish| Eisaku Satō}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Eisaku Satō
| native_name = {{nobold|佐藤 栄佐久}}
| native_name_lang = ja
| image = Eisaku Satō 20060804.jpg
| caption = Satō in 2006
| office = Governor of Fukushima Prefecture
| term_start = 19 September 1988
| term_end = 28 September 2006
| predecessor = Isao Mastudaira
| successor = Yūhei Satō
| office2 = Member of the House of Councillors for Fukushima Prefecture
| term_start2 = 3 July 1983
| term_end2 = 3 August 1988
| birth_date = {{birth date|df=y|1939|06|24}}
| birth_place = Kōriyama, Fukushima, Japan
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=y|2025|03|19|1939|06|24}}
| death_place = Kōriyama, Fukushima, Japan
| spouse =
| party = Liberal Democratic Party
| alma_mater = University of Tokyo
| religion =
}}
{{nihongo|Eisaku Satō|佐藤 栄佐久|Satō Eisaku|24 June 1939 – 19 March 2025}} was a Japanese politician who served as the governor of Fukushima Prefecture of Japan from 1988 to 2006.
Life and career
Sato was initially an enthusiastic supporter of nuclear power. Like his predecessors he appreciated the jobs and subsidies associated with the nuclear plants in the prefecture. He believed it was part of Fukushima playing a role in the Japanese nation as a whole. In 1998, he conditionally agreed the controversial use of mixed oxide plutonium uranium fuel (MOX) at the Fukushima plant. He subsequently withdrew his support after discovering a cover-up of reactor malfunctions and cracks.
Between 2002 and 2006, twenty-one problems at the Fukushima plant were reported to his office.{{Cite web |title=Fukushima Daiichi Accident - World Nuclear Association |url=https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/safety-and-security/safety-of-plants/fukushima-daiichi-accident |access-date=19 March 2025 |website=world-nuclear.org}} The whistleblowers, including some employees at the plant, bypassed both Tepco and Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency because they feared that their information would go straight to Tepco. This was later shown to be a very justified fear. Sato became an increasingly bitter critic of the plant and Japan's entire energy policy as directed by NISA's powerful government overseer, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.
In 2006, Sato was forced to step down and in 2008 was prosecuted and convicted on bribery charges.{{Cite web |last=Hongo |first=Jun |date=22 June 2007 |title=Sato pleads innocent to bribery |url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2007/06/22/national/sato-pleads-innocent-to-bribery/ |access-date=19 March 2025 |website=The Japan Times |language=en}} He claimed the charges were politically motivated. Following his conviction, he wrote a book of his experiences called Annihilating a Governor explaining his concerns about nuclear power and how he was set up and wrongfully convicted. The book was largely ignored until the events of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster sent it rocketing up the bestseller list.
Satō died on 19 March 2025, at the age of 85 at a nursing home in Koriyama City, due to old age.{{Cite web |title=Former Fukushima Governor Eisaku Sato Passes Away At 85 |url=https://evrimagaci.org/tpg/former-fukushima-governor-eisaku-sato-passes-away-at-85-270382 |access-date=19 March 2025 |website=The Pinnacle Gazette |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=19 March 2025 |title=元福島知事の佐藤栄佐久氏が死去 脱原発訴え、汚職事件で有罪判決も：朝日新聞 |url=https://www.asahi.com/articles/AST3M0T0HT3MUGTB001M.html?iref=comtop_BreakingNews_list |access-date=19 March 2025 |website=朝日新聞 |language=ja}}
References
{{reflist}}
External Links
- {{IMDb name| 9530287}}
- {{cite web |url=http://www.senkyo.janjan.jp/diet/profile/0039/00039891.html |script-title=ja:政治家情報 〜佐藤 雄平〜 |website=www.senkyo.janjan.jp ザ･選挙 |publisher=JANJAN |accessdate=23 November 2007 |language=Japanese |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071127074826/http://www.senkyo.janjan.jp/diet/profile/0039/00039891.html |archive-date=27 November 2007 |url-status=dead }}
- https://web.archive.org/web/20110427022229/http://www.fccj.or.jp/node/6542
- [https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/warnings-of-nuclear-disaster-not-heeded-claims-former-governer-2273764.html David McNeill: Warnings of nuclear disaster not heeded, claims former governor]
- [http://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/0,1518,764069,00.html Cordula Meyer: Der Atomstaat] - Der Spiegel 23. May 2011
{{Governors of Fukushima Prefecture}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sato, Eisaku}}
Category:Members of the House of Councillors (Japan)
Category:Politicians from Fukushima Prefecture
Category:Governors of Fukushima Prefecture
Category:University of Tokyo alumni