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Eisaku Sato

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World Leader

The Resume

    (March 27, 1901-June 3, 1975)
    Born in Tabuse, Japan
    Held a seat in the Japanese Diet (1949-75)
    Minister of Posts and Telecommunications (1951-52)
    Minister of Construction (1952-53)
    Minister of Finance (1958-60)
    Minister of International Trade and Industry (1961-62)
    Prime Minister of Japan (1964-72)
    Signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (January 3, 1970)
    Co-recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (1974)
    Granduncle of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe

Why he might be annoying:

    He was accused of accepting bribes from shipbuilding executives, but his political mentor, Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida, intervened to prevent his arrest and trial (1954).
    He married his first cousin.
    His wife told an interviewer that he used to beat her.
    He ticked off Richard Nixon by reportedly promising to cut textile exports to the US only to have exports continue to rise. (Although Sato insisted he had responded to Nixon’s request with a noncommittal answer that the US President misinterpreted.)
    Despite his public opposition to nuclear weapons, he secretly agreed to let the US station nuclear warheads in Japan.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He was a master of the political arts of consensus building and factional infighting.
    He was in charge of organizing the Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo (1964).
    He promoted Japan’s continued growth as an economic power.
    He held the first international conference in Japan of the post-WWII era (1966).
    He successfully negotiated the return of Okinawa to Japanese sovereignty (1972).

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 2 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 5 Votes: 80.0% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 9 Votes: 77.78% Annoying