Historical Dictionary of United States-Japan ... - Bakumatsu Films

KATO – , TOMOSABURO – • 153
In 1891, Katō graduated from the Naval Academy, and was chief
gunner on the enormous battleship Mikasa during the RUSSO–
JAPANESE WAR of 1904–1905. His pedigree was impeccable: after
serving as Admiral Gombei Yamamoto’s aide-de-camp in 1906, he
was posted in 1909 as naval attaché to the Japanese embassy in London.
He attended the Washington Conference of 1921–1922, and
emerged as a vociferous opponent of plenipotentiary (and navy minister)
Admiral Tomosaburō Katō’s decision to accept the American
proposal for the reduction of capital ship strength according to the ratio
of 5:5:3 for the United States, Great Britain, and Japan.
Having been promoted to admiral in 1927, Katō in 1929 was appointed
chief of the Navy General Staff. In this position, he violently
opposed the naval limitations agreements hammered out at the 1930
First London Naval Conference. He charged the government with
having ignored his opinions, which he argued constituted an infringement
on the rights of the supreme command. This, in turn,
sparked a shrill political controversy—with debate centering on the
government’s prerogatives vis-à-vis those of the supreme command—in
the midst of which Katō (in June 1930) resigned his post.
In subsequent years, he worked behind the scenes to empower those
within the navy who opposed the system of naval limitation.
KATŌ, RYOZO (1941). Ryozo Katō has been ambassador extraordinaire
and plenipotentiary to the United States since 2001. In 1965, he
graduated from Faculty of Law of Tokyo University and entered the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan. After holding a series of official
posts, he was promoted to deputy minister for Foreign Affairs in 1999.
In the 21st century, a number of delicate issues exist between the
United States and Japan. In particular, the United States has been implementing
global military realignment. Because of this, Washington
has agreed to reduce 8,000 marines currently stationed in Okinawa.
Ambassador Katō plays an important role in these negotiations.
KATŌ, TOMOSABURŌ (1861–1923). Admiral Tomosaburo Katō
was a towering figure in the Imperial Japanese Navy through the
1910s and early 1920s. A judicious judge of Japan’s war-making capabilities,
he exercised his authority to drag the navy into the era of
naval limitation.