Saburo kato biography

  • An outstanding master and
    •         Jihei Katō had been in the horticultural business in mid-19th century Japan.  His son, Tomekichi, established the Mansei-en nursery in Tokyo.  At that nursery could be gotten orchids, evergreens and foliage plants.   Tomekichi traveled extensively throughout Japan and became recognized for his knowledge of plants.  After his business had become well established, he began to also develop an interest in bonsai.  As he and his wife produced only five daughters and no sons, the family name could not continue unless a man was willing to marry into the family and assume the family name of his wife -- a relatively common practice in Japan.  It was also a common practice for an apprentice to assume the name of his mentor upon the latter's passing.

            Enter a young man who had been born on January 4, 1883 into the Taketa family.  As a young man he had developed a keen interest in horticulture and bonsai.  He wanted to study under the guidance of Tomekichi Katō, but Katō-san did not want to have any students.  Taketa persisted and eventually was allowed to work and learn at Mansei-en.  After two years of basic cleaning work he was allowed to care for the bonsai trees.  Learning the techniques of grafting and wiring, he began to creatively develop nice bonsai -- which he sold to Tomekichi.  Taketa  was eventually allowed to marry the nurseryman's oldest daughter, and he thus assumed the Katō family name.  (It was either when his father-in-law died that Taketa assumed the name of Tomekichi Katō II or at the time he assumed responsibility of the now exclusively-bonsai Mansei-en). 

            Now, he was especially fond of shimpaku (Juniperus chinensis), goyo-matsu (Pinus parviflora, five-needle pine), tosho (Juni
  • As a fourth-generation bonsai
  • Saburo Kato attended Gifu

    • Except where mentioned in specific article titles, the family name has been standardized above by RJB to be "Katō"
    and the grandmaster's given name to be "Saburō."


    1        Elias, Thomas S.  "Mansei-en and the Kato Family: Part One," Bonsai Magazine, BCI, Vol. 40, No. 3, May/June 2001, complementary color copies without page numbers in program packets of the International Scholarly Symposium on Bonsai and Viewing Stones, May 18, 2002, Washington, D.C.  This (with Part Two) is a most excellent and enjoyable article -- not all of which I've made use of here.; per personal e-mail to RJB by Alan Walker 09/13/2004, page numbers for this article are 16-18, thus Part One, pp. 16-17 for this footnote; Murata, Kyuzo, "The Early Days of Ezo Spruce Bonsai," International Bonsai, IBA, 1990/No. 2, pp. 14-17.

    2    Tsukiyama, Ted T.,  "Profile of a Bonsai Internationalist: Saburo Kato," Bonsai Magazine, BCI, Vol. 29, No. 3, May/June 1990, pg. 21; Fukumoto, David W.,  "Saburo Kato: The Gentle Spirit of International Bonsai and Peace," Bonsai Journal, American Bonsai Society, Vol. 22, No. 4, Winter 1988, pg. 6.

    3       Elias' article, "Part One," pg. 18, and "Part Two," pg. 10; Bonsai Magazine, BCI, Vol. 40, No. 4, July/August 2001, pg. 10; Tsukiyama's "Profile" article, pg. 21; Fukumoto's article "Saburo Kato: The Gentle Spirit of International Bonsai and Peace" ; Chida, Hiroshi  "Third-generation bonsai planter supervises village," Stars and Stripes, Stripes Pacific Travel, Thursday, February 19, 2004, http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=103&article=22841&archive=true.

    4       Elias' article, "Part Two," pg. 11; "Living bonsai treasure spreads the word overseas" by Ken Kawashima, Asahi Shimbun News Service, http://www.asahi.com/english/weekend/K200205120

      Saburo kato biography

     

    Date and Place of Birth:Unknown
    Date and Place of Death:    April 6, 1945 Location Unknown
    Baseball Experience:College
    Position:Unknown
    Rank:Unknown
    Military Unit:Kamikaze 1st Special Attack Corps Imperial Japanese Navy
    Area Served:Pacific

    Saburo Kato attended Gifu Shogyo High School where he was an outstanding baseball player. He later played baseball at Meiji University and, in 1940, he was selected to play for the Japanese team in the East Asian Games commemorating the 2,600th anniversary of the founding of the Empire of Japan.

    On April 6, 1945 Saburo Kato died in battle while serving as a member of the Kamikaze 1st Special Attack Corps.

    Date Added: March 17, 2013

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    Katō Tomosaburō

    Prime Minister of Japan from 1922 to 1923

    In this Japanese name, the surname is Katō.

    Marshal-AdmiralViscountKatō Tomosaburō (加藤 友三郎, 22 February 1861 – 24 August 1923) was a career officer in the Imperial Japanese Navy, cabinet minister, and Prime Minister of Japan from 1922 to 1923.

    Biography

    Born in Hiroshima, Aki Province (modern Hiroshima Prefecture) to a samurai family, Katō enrolled in the 7th class Imperial Japanese Naval Academy and graduated second out of a class of 30 cadets. He specialized in both naval artillery and in navigation.

    Naval career

    After his commissioning as lieutenant, Katō served on the corvetteTsukuba in 1887, followed by the cruiserTakachiho. During the First Sino-Japanese War, he served in a combat position as gunnery officer on the cruiser Yoshino. After the end of the war, he served in numerous staff positions before promotion to commander. He was executive officer on the battleshipYashima, and captain of the Tsukushi. He was promoted to rear admiral on 1 September 1904.

    During the Russo-Japanese War, Katō served as chief of staff to Admiral Tōgō Heihachirō on the battleship Mikasa, assisting in Japan's victory at the Battle of Tsushima. During this time, he suffered from a very weak stomach, and was vomiting as he issued orders throughout the battle, despite having taken large amounts of medication.

    Katō became Vice Minister of the Navy in 1906, and was promoted to vice admiral on 28 August 1908. In 1909, he was appointed commander of the Kure Naval District, and in 1913 became Commander in Chief of the Combined Fleet.

    Katō became Minister of the Navy in August 1915, days before his promotion to full admiral on 28 August 1915. He served in this post in the cabinets of Ōkuma Shigenobu, Terauchi Masatake, Hara Takashi, and Takahashi Korekiyo. Under Hara and Takahashi, Katō was Japan's chief commissioner plenipotentiary to the Washington Naval Conference, and wo