Date of birth: June 20, 1952

LDP faction: Koga

Electoral district: Lower House; Tochigi No. 4 (fourth term)

After graduating from Nihon University in Tokyo, Sato went to work at major construction firm Hazama Corp. in 1975 and moved to general contractor Sato Kogyo Co. in 1977.

He entered the political world in 1987 when he was elected to the Tochigi Prefectural Assembly. In 1996, he won a Lower House seat for the first time.

Sato served as parliamentary secretary at the health ministry under Junichiro Koizumi in 2001 and senior vice minister at the ministry under Yasuo Fukuda in 2007.

The 56-year-old lawmaker also has deep knowledge about postal and communications policies.

*Appointed to double as Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications after the resignation of Kunio Hatoyama June 12, 2009.
*Released as National Public Safety Commission Chairman, State Minister in charge of Okinawa and Affairs related to the Northern Territories July 2, 2009.