Aimaro Satō

Aimaro Satō grew up in the Tsugaru region of northern Japan. At Tōō Gijuku he studied under the American missionary John Ing and became a Christian. In 1877 he traveled with Sutemi Chinda to Indiana Asbury University, later DePauw, graduating in 1881. Satō and Chinda remained close; Chinda married Satō’s sister. ¹

Satō’s diplomatic career took him to Washington and London and into the Foreign Ministry’s communications and translation work. He assisted Foreign Minister Munemitsu Mutsu during the Sino-Japanese War and served with the Japanese delegation at the Portsmouth peace negotiations in 1905. His career also included representation in the Netherlands and Austria. ¹

As ambassador in Washington during the First World War, Satō participated in negotiations over American steel exports and Japanese shipping. A November 1917 memorandum by Secretary of State Robert Lansing records discussion of the terms Satō had raised with the War Trade Board: Japanese tonnage was sought in exchange for steel. ²

Satō retired from diplomatic service in 1918. He had adopted Naotake Satō, who also became a senior diplomat, in 1902. He died in January 1934. ¹