Shinji Satō (politician)

Shinji Satō
佐藤 信二
Official portrait, 1996
Minister of International Trade and Industry
In office 7 November 1996 – 11 September 1997
Prime Minister	Ryutaro Hashimoto
Preceded by	Shunpei Tsukahara
Succeeded by	Mitsuo Horiuchi
Minister of Transport
In office 27 December 1988 – 3 June 1989
Prime Minister	Noboru Takeshita
Preceded by	Shintaro Ishihara
Succeeded by	Shinjirō Yamamura
Member of the House of Representatives
In office 9 November 2003 – 8 August 2005
Constituency	Chūgoku PR
In office 7 October 1979 – 2 June 2000
Preceded by	Multi-member district
Succeeded by	Hideo Hiraoka
Constituency	Former Yamaguchi 2nd (1979–1996) Yamaguchi 2nd (1996–2000)
Member of the House of Councillors
In office 8 July 1974 – 16 September 1979
Constituency	National district
Personal details
Born	(1932-02-08)8 February 1932 Tabuse, Yamaguchi, Japan
Died	3 May 2016(2016-05-03) (aged 84) Setagaya, Tokyo, Japan
Political party	Liberal Democratic
Parent	Eisaku Satō (father)
Alma mater	Keio University

Shinji Satō (佐藤 信二 Satō Shinji, February 8, 1932 – May 3, 2016) was a Japanese politician. A member of the Satō-Kishi-Abe family, he was the second son of Prime Minister Eisaku Satō and followed him into politics. A member of the Liberal Democratic Party, he served in the House of Councillors (1974–1979) and House of Representatives (1979–2000 and 2003–2005), and also as and Minister of Transport (1988–1989) and Minister of International Trade and Industry (1996–1997).

Biography

From left - Hiroko, Shinji, Eisaku, Ryutaro, & Fujieda (Matsuoka), 1931

Shinji Satō was the second son of Eisaku Satō and his wife Hiroko Matsuoka (松岡 寛子, 5 January 1907 – 16 April 1987). Shinji's older brother was Ryūtarō. Shinji was first elected to the Japanese House of Councillors in 1974, two years after his father left office as prime minister. He was elected to the House of Representatives in 1979. Satō served as Minister of Transport under Prime Minister Noboru Takeshita. In 1996 he became the Minister of International Trade and Industry, a very powerful position. This time he served under Prime Minister Ryūtarō Hashimoto.

Shinji's son-in-law, Masashi Adachi worked for him from 2003 to 2004. Masashi Adachi currently serves in the House of Councillors, and formerly worked as an aide for his cousin-in-law, Eisaku's grandnephew, Shinzo Abe.

Satō announced in 2012 that he had a document signed between his father and U.S. President Richard Nixon that would allow American nuclear weapons to be brought to Okinawa in emergencies.

See also

• Satō–Kishi–Abe family