Akizuki Satsuo

Who was Akizuki Satsuo?

Akizuki Satsuo was a diplomat and government official of the upper third rank in the Imperial Household Ministry. He was born in Hyūga Province.

He was the third of four sons. His father, Akizuki Taneyo was an elder of the Takanabe Domain. His younger brother, Suzuki Masaya, was an official in the Ministry of Agricultural and Trade Affairs, and contributed to the growth of the Sumitomo Zaibatsu. Makino Nobuaki was his brother-in-law.

He graduated from the Han school called Meirindō founded by Akizuki Taneshige. He attended Kagoshima Medical School, but dropped out. He graduated from the Japanese Ministry of Justice Law School.

He worked in the Ministry of Justice for a time, but then became a diplomat. He worked as a diplomat to Sweden, the Japanese ambassador to Belgium, and the ambassador extraordinary to Australia, before leaving office in 1914. He worked as a plenipotentiary advisor at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919.

During his time as ambassador to Belgium, in 1908, he observed a British Boy Scout event. He reported his findings to others, which spread word of the Boy Scout movement to Japan.