Saburo Okita

Saburo Okita
大来 佐武郎
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office 8 November 1979 – 17 July 1980
Prime Minister	Masayoshi Ōhira, Masayoshi Ito
Preceded by	Sunao Sonoda
Succeeded by	Masayoshi Ito
Personal details
Born	(1914-11-03)3 November 1914 Dalian, Kwantung Leased Territory
Died	Tokyo
Political party	Liberal Democratic Party
Alma mater	Tokyo Imperial University

Saburo Okita (大来 佐武郎 Ōkita Saburō) (3 November 1914 – 9 February 1993) was a Japanese economist and politician.

Early life and education

Okita was born in Dalian, Kwantung Leased Territory on 3 November 1914. He graduated from Tokyo Imperial University.

Career

In 1937, Okita worked as an engineer with the Ministry of Posts. Later on he held numerous government positions, including chief of research for the Economic Stabilization Board in 1947, chief of the economic cooperation unit for the Economic Planning Agency in 1953 and later director general of their planning bureau in 1957, and then in 1963 the director general of the EPA development bureau. In each of these positions, he played an important role under the economic plan of then prime minister Ikeda Hayato, which greatly helped Japan's postwar economy. In 1964, Okita became the president of the Japan Center for Economic Research, and later served as its chairman from 1973 to 1979. From 1979 to 1980 he served as the minister of foreign affairs, and continued to be one of Japan's foremost academic spokesmen. He subsequently held other positions including President Of International University of Japan and as an advisor to the ministry of foreign affairs in 1982, and in 1989, as chairman of the Institute for Domestic and Policy Studies in Tokyo. He served as the international chair of the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council from 1986-1988.

Awards

He received the Ramon Magsaysay Award in 1971 for International Understanding. In 1985 he became a Companion of the Order of Australia, and in 1986 was made a Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun. He was also awarded the Indira Gandhi Prize in 1992.

Works

• The Future of Japan's Economy (1960)
• Economic Planning (1962)
• Future Vision for the Japanese Economy (1968)
• Japan and the World Economy (1975)
• Developing Economics and Japan: Lessons in Growth (1980)
• Japan's Challenging Years: Reflections on My Lifetime (1983)

References

Fengbo Zhang: Cherishing the memory of Saburo Okita

Political offices
Preceded by Sunao Sonoda	Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan 1979–1980	Succeeded by Masayoshi Ito