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E
isalcu Sato, Prime Minister of
Japan eight years, 1964-1972,
died June 3 from a strolce suf–
fered May 19 while dining at a
restaurant in Tokyo. He went into a
coma and never regained conscious-
ness.
.
He was·my waun friend. He gave
me considerable credil for helping in
what he regarded as
bis
greatest
achievement, accomplishing the re–
version ofOkinawa baclc to Japan.
1 first met bim in December 1970.
The mornjng newspapers on the day
of our meeting headlined a riot in
Okinawa against the U.S. forces then
occupying and governing the island.
Mr. Sato asked me to visit Okioawa,
mal:e my own investigation into
con–
ditions there, and report it in
Plain
Truth.
Our good friend Dr. Ohama.
who, with Mrs. Ohama, is the num–
ber one private couple of Japan, was
with me on that fust meeting witb
the prime wnister. Dr. Obama,
bom in Oldnawa, was chlef non-offi–
cial advisor to the government on
Okinawan aft'airs. The Prime Minis–
ter said tempers were too heated at
the moment for an immedi.ate visit
10 Oldnawa, but our next trip to Ja–
pan was scheduled for February
1971, and it was planned for us to
visit Okinawa then, with Dr. Ohama
meeting us there.
At Oldnawa
l
interviewed the
United States Army Command¡ull
and
a1so
the Japanese Chief Execu–
tive. tbe P.resident of lhe Universily,
whete ao excbange arrangement was
made between Ambassador College
and the Universityofthe Ryuk)'us.
1 was with Prime Mjnjster Sato at
the hour of bis greatest lriumph -
lhe hour
j
ust befare lhe official
signing of the reversion agree01ent
between the U.S. ilnd Japan.
"This
is a historie . meeting," he
said when 1 entered
rus
office wit.h
Mr. Stanley Rader and Professor Os–
amu Gotoh, who always accompany
me on sucb meetings. "As soon as
you leave my office, one hour from
now, 1 will walk into lhe adjoining
room, where lhe U.S. ambassador
aod 1 will sigo lhe official docu–
ments." It was a very happy moment
for him - perhaps lhe happiest of
hislife, concluding what he regarded
as bis greatest achlevement. As we
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WEI!K ENDINO JUNE 2t,
191S
were leaving lhe front entrance of
lhe Prime Minister's official resi–
dence, lhe cars bringing lhe United
States ambassador and lhe foreign
minister of Japan were just pulling
up. 1 bad visited wilh Mr. Sato lhree
or four times during bis term in of–
fioe, and about three times at bis
prívate residence after he went out
of offioe. 1 was invited to have a
prívate meeting with him at San Cle–
mente in 1-972, when be and bis staff
visited there for .meetings with Presi–
den! Nixon. That was one
of
the few
times in recent years I was
ill,
and
Mr. Rader and Professor Gotob
went forme.
The last time we visited wilh hlm
in his own borne, be proposed that
he and 1 malee a private agreement
- lhat instead of growing older eacb
year, we benceforlh "throw away a
year annually," so that
J
could live
on into lhe twenly-fust
century~
He said, "One of us must span
three centuries, and 1 can't do it
be–
cause 1 was boro in lhls century,
so
you'll haveto do it."
Shortly after that meeting, he won
the Nobel Prize for World Peace.
lt
was during his eight years of
Japanese Jeadership lhat Japan rose
to lhe greatest industrial power next
to
the United States and the Soviet
Union. In the news reports of Mr.
Sato's death, 1 notice lhat bis critics
manage to get in their derogatory
barbs - little meo criticizing lhe one
who accomplished things. It's always
that way. Lesser meo wbo accom–
plish nothing seem adept at criti–
cizing those wbo do.
We had counted on Mr. Sato
beiog a board member of our new
foundation in Japan, the Ambas–
sador lntemational Cultural Foun–
dation.
But though we have lost a warm
and importan! friend
in
Japan, we
still count as friends .Prime Minister
Tanalca, wbo succeeded hlm, the
present Prime Minister
Mili,
with
whom we were the
jirst
to have a
private meeting after
bis
inaugural,
anda host ofotber warm and impor–
tan! friends in Japan.
o
FORMER JAPANESE Prime Míníster
Eiseku Seto, OM·time winner of the
Nobel pe11ce prize.
Personal from...
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