is a Japanese lawyer and career diplomat who served as the Japanese
Ambassador
An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or sov ...
to the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
from 2001 to 2008. He also served as the Commissioner of
Nippon Professional Baseball
or NPB is the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning ''Professional Baseball''.
Outside Japan, it is often just referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league can be traced back to the formation ...
.
Career
Kato worked in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Japanese Government. A graduate of Tokyo University Faculty of Law and Yale Law School, he served his country in Australia, Egypt, and the United States, in addition to multiple global assignments within the Ministry in Tokyo.
Positions which Ambassador Kato served in the United States include the Third Secretary in the Embassy (1967–1969), Minister in the Embassy (1987–1990), and Consul-General in San Francisco (1992–1994). He returned to Japan to serve as the Director-General of the Asian Affairs Bureau (1995–1997) and the Deputy-General of the Foreign Policy Bureau (1997–1999). After serving as the Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs (1999–2001), he was appointed the Ambassador of Japan to the United States of America from 2001 to 2008. He has been recognized and respected on both sides of the Pacific for his outstanding understanding of the issues and his clarity in direction to resolve them. In 2007, Kato warned in the letter that
Japanese-American relations
are Americans of Japanese ancestry. Japanese Americans were among the three largest Asian American ethnic communities during the 20th century; but, according to the 2000 census, they have declined in number to constitute the sixth largest Asi ...
could suffer serious, long-term harm if the House of Representatives passed
Resolution 121.
Kato became the
Commissioner of Nippon Professional Baseball in Tokyo in 2008. He resigned in 2013 after it was found that the baseballs used during the
2013 Nippon Professional Baseball season
The 2013 Nippon Professional Baseball season is the 64th season since the NPB was reorganized in 1950.
Juiced ball scandal
At the beginning of the 2013 NPB season, a new livelier ball was introduced in secret. This juiced up baseball allowed m ...
were "juiced" in secret, though Kato claimed to not know about the change.
"Ryozo Kato resigns as commish,"
ESPN.com (September 13, 2013).
See also
* Tsuneo Watanabe
is a Japanese journalist and businessman. He is the Representative Director, Editor-in-Chief of the Yomiuri Shimbun Holdings company, which publishes the largest Japanese daily newspaper ''Yomiuri Shimbun'' and substantially controls the largest J ...
* Yomiuri Shimbun
The (lit. ''Reading-selling Newspaper'' or ''Selling by Reading Newspaper'') is a Japanese newspaper published in Tokyo, Osaka, Fukuoka, and other major Japanese cities. It is one of the five major newspapers in Japan; the other four are t ...
References
External links
The Washington Diplomat Newspaper - Ambassador profile
1941 births
Living people
People from Akita Prefecture
People from Saitama (city)
University of Tokyo alumni
Ambassadors of Japan to the United States
Nippon Professional Baseball commissioners
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