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From Returned Missionaries

George McCune's Tribute to Tatsui Sato

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A Tribute To

BROTHER TATSUI SATO

Part V

Translation of the Temple Ordinances 

During the 1962-1965 administration of mission president Dwayne N. Andersen over the Northern Far East Mission covering Japan and Okinawa, emphasis \vas placed on giving the Japan saints the higher blessings of the temple. The temple project to take a group of faithful Japan saints to the Hawaiian Temple for their endowments and sealings at the end of President Andersen's tenure required translation of the temple ordinances into the Japanese language. 

Brother Sato was asked to go to the temple in Hawaii and translate the sacred ceremonies. He first set: foot on American soil in Honolulu in January 1965. With recommendation from his presiding authorities in Japan, he received his own endowments on January 23, 1965 and immediately commenced translation of the temple ceremonies within the walls of the Hawaiian Temple in Laie on the island of Oahu. 

As April LDS General Conference arose, Brother Sato took opportunity to go to Salt Lake City for the first time, He was met at the airport by his old two LDS lieutenant friends Dr. C. Elliott Richards, now a pediatrician, and Elder Boyd K. Packer, now an Assistant to the Quorum of the Twelve of the LDS Church. Both men entertained him and he stayed in Dr. Richards' home. While attending conference, Tatsui received his patriarchal blessing from Patriarch to the Church Eldred G. Smith and commenced searching genealogy. 

A fireside was held for him while he was in Salt Lake during which he met his future second wife, Tomiko Hiranishi. Tomiko, then available with a young son and daughter, was asked by the sister who organized the fireside to pick Brother Sato up in her car and bring him to the event. It was then that they first met. 

Tatsui then returned to Japan and accompanied the 160 saints from Japan on their June 1965 historic trip to the Hawaiian Temple where he was temple sealer under the former mission president of the Japan Mission, then serving as Hawaiian Temple President, Edward Clissold. 

Brother Sato proposed to Tomiko Hiranishi and it was one year and a month after the successful temple excursion of Japanese saints to the Hawaiian Temple when Brother Sato and Tomiko married on July 29, 1966 at the altar in the Salt Lake Temple and were sealed for time and all eternity. 

Tatsui also obtained a teaching contract at Brigham Young University to teach Japanese. While there, he also took a genealogy class. In the summer of 1966, he further began part time employment for the LDS Genealogical Society romanizing Japanese surnames from kanji into a directory of 74,000 names. This year he achieved another first, being ordained the first native Japanese High Priest on October 9, 1966. 

The LDS Genealogical Society employed Brother Sato full time beginning February 1967 in the Oriental Records Analysis Division. Then in 1967, the society paid his way and that of Brother John Orton of the Research Department touring Japan from Nagasaki to Hokkaido for over a month. Many valuable genealogical records were acquired for the library through the visit. Then Brother Sato actively participated in the World Conference on Records from August 5-8, 1969. 

Salt Lake Temple Sealer 

Brother Sato was serving as High Priests Group Leader in the Dai Ichi (Japanese Cultural) Branch when he obtained his U.S. Citizenship May 11, 1970. Then he was presented the prestigious Master M-Man Award by the entire LDS Church MIA June 25, 1970. At this time, a group of 315 Japanese Saints were preparing for their second large temple excursion, this time to the Salt Lake Temple. 

A large group of the Dai Ichi (Japanese Cultural) Branch was set apart May 13 by Elder Edward H. Sorensen to be temple workers for the historic event. Brother Sato was chosen to be sealer and was set apart August 28, 1970 by the President of the Church Joseph Fielding Smith as a Salt Lake Temple Sealer. The temple group arrived in October 1970 and had a successful excursion. 

In 1975, an anonymous donor gave the Satos money to go to Japan. During the visit, Brother Sato met 40 of his old students from the Sendai girls school where he had taught many years ago. In 1980, he sent them each a copy of the Japanese Book of Mormon he had retranslated. 

En October 1979, Mr. Shuten Oishi, Head of the Union of New Religious Organizations in Japan, who had helped Brother Sato in 1947 arrange for LDS missionaries to return to Japan, made a special stop on his return from the Third World Conference on Religion and Peace at Princeton, New Jersey to meet his long time friend, Tatsui Sato.