was a Japanese politician.

Political career

Born in Kirishima, Kagoshima, Ozato's first electoral victory came at the prefectural level in 1959. He served the Kagoshima Prefectural Assembly until 1979, when he was elected to the House of Representatives for

Kagoshima 2nd district is a single-member electoral district of the House of Representatives (Japan), House of Representatives, the lower house of the National Diet of Japan. The district covers two different parts of Kagoshima Prefecture. On the main island of Kyushu, ...

. In December 1990, Ozato was named

Labour Minister Minister of Labour (in British English) or Labor (in American English) is typically a cabinet-level position with portfolio responsibility for setting national labour standards, labour dispute mechanisms, employment, workforce participation, traini ...

. From 1994 to 1995, he led the Okinawa and Hokkaido development agencies. In January 1995, the Great Hanshin earthquake hit Japan, and Ozato was reassigned to handle disaster relief. From 1996 on, he began running for the legislative seat in Kagoshima's fourth district. Ozato was a member of the Kōchikai faction of the Liberal Democratic Party, originally under the leadership of Kiichi Miyazawa. Soon after

Koichi Kato Kōichi Katō is the name of two House of Representatives of Japan's members: *Koichi Kato (LDP) was a Japanese politician of the Liberal Democratic Party who held a seat in the House of Representatives in the National Diet for 13 terms betwe ...

became faction leader the faction split, but Ozato remained affiliated with Kato. Ozato succeeded Koko Sato as director of the Management and Co-ordination Agency in 1997. Ozato was appointed to lead the Liberal Democratic Party's Executive Council in 2000, replacing

Yukihiko Ikeda was a Japanese bureaucrat and the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) politician who served as foreign minister. He was in office from 11 January 1996 to 11 September 1997. Ikeda was known to be "Mr. No" in the political life. Early life and educat ...

, but stepped down at the end of the year. Kanezo Muraoka took the position. Ozato was awarded a fourth class

Order of the Rising Sun The is a Japanese order, established in 1875 by Emperor Meiji. The Order was the first national decoration awarded by the Japanese government, created on 10 April 1875 by decree of the Council of State. The badge features rays of sunlight ...

in 2001. He retired from politics in 2005, choosing not to declare his candidacy for that year's elections. Ozato died in 2016 at the age of 86.

Personal life

His son is

Yasuhiro Ozato is a Japanese politician of the Liberal Democratic Party, a member of the House of Representatives in the Diet (national legislature). A native of the former town of Kirishima, Kagoshima and graduate of Keio University, he was elected for the ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ozato, Sadatoshi 1930 births 2016 deaths Ministers of Labour of Japan Politicians from Kagoshima Prefecture Members of the House of Representatives (Japan) Liberal Democratic Party (Japan) politicians Recipients of the Order of the Rising Sun, 4th class 21st-century Japanese politicians 20th-century Japanese politicians