Eisaku Sato was born on March 27, 1901 in Tabuse, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan.
In 1921, completing the course of senior high school, he entered Tokyo Imperial University (now Tokyo University) and majored in German jurisprudence.
In 1923, he passed the senior civil service examinations, and in the following year, upon graduating from the University, he joined the Ministry of Railways. In the Ministry, he held various important posts, such as Director of the Osaka Railways Bureau from 1944 to 1946 and Vice-Minister for Transportation from 1947 to 1948.
He married Hiroko Sato on February 23, 1926 and has two sons. The elder son, Ryutaro, is Managing Director of the Asian Drilling Co. Ltd. and the younger son, Shinji, is a member of the House of Councillors.
His hobbies include golf, fishing, and performing the traditional Japanese tea ceremony (chanoyu) with his wife.
His first contact with the political world was on his appointment to the post of Chief Cabinet Secretary of the second Yoshida Cabinet in 1948.
In 1949, he was elected to the House of Representatives and since then he has held the following Government and Party posts:
Feb.1949-April 1950 Chairman of the Policy Affairs Research Council of the Liberal Party
April 1950-May 1951 Jan. 1953-July 1954 Secretary General of the Liberal Party
July 1951 - July 1952 Minister of Postal Services and Telecommunications
Oct. 1952-Feb. 1953 Minister of Construction and concurrently Minister of State in charge of Hokkaido Development
Dec.1957-June 1958 Chairman of the Executive Council of the Liberal Democratic Party
June 1958-July 1960 Minister of Finance
July 1961-July 1962 Minister of International Trade and Industry
July 1963-June 1964 Minister of State in charge of Hokkaido Development and concurrently Minister of State in charge of Science and Technology; Minister of State in charge of the 18th Olympic Games
Dec.1964-June 1972 President of the Liberal Democratic Party and Prime Minister.

From Les Prix Nobel 1974.