The Most “Prime Minister-like” Head of Cabinet: Commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the Death of Eisaku Sato

Abstract

The article is dedicated to the memory of Eisaku Sato, Prime Minister of Japan from 1964 to 1972, and was written in connection with the 50^th anniversary of his death. The author attempted to address his personal contribution to the development of Japan and to analyze his political legacy from today’s perspective.

Sato belonged to the conservative mainstream (hoshu honryu) in the Liberal Democratic Party, which was associated with Shigeru Yoshida. Sato’s political ascent was characterized by his phenomenal ability to balance between the LDP factions, which were in extremely difficult and sometimes hostile relations with each other, and to maintain strong ties with the Japanese business community. His political career reached its peak by the end of the 1960s, when he almost singlehandedly controlled the entire top political establishment in Japan.

The author lists Sato’s achievements as head of the cabinet, including Japan’s rapid economic growth, promoted by active government regulation; strong social policy and a threefold increase in wages in the manufacturing sector; ambitious infrastructure projects, including the extension of the Shinkansen Line and the construction of Narita Airport; the holding of the international exhibition Expo 70 in Osaka. An important part of Sato’s political legacy, according to the author, was the practice of using advisory and other expert structures to prepare decisions bypassing traditional bureaucratic bodies. Many “strong” Japanese premiers later relied on the experience of Sato’s premiership. Among the most significant successes of Sato in the field of foreign policy and security, the article notes the return of Okinawa to Japanese administrative control on the terms of the withdrawal of nuclear weapons, as well as Japan’s non-nuclear policy, manifested in the Three Non-nuclear Principles proclaimed by Sato and the signing of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. For these achievements, Sato was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1974.