Tatsui Sato: Translator for Life

Sato baptism

Tatsui and Chiyo Sato with Warren Richard Nelson, a Latter-day Saint chaplain who was stationed near Nagoya, at the baptismal service for the Satos, July 7, 1946.

World War II meant that many young Latter-day Saints could not serve missions. Some sought opportunities to share the gospel during their military service. Many faithful converts to the Church in Japan were taught the gospel by these servicemen.

Shortly after the war ended, Latter-day Saints in the United States military—including a young lieutenant named Boyd K. Packer—eagerly shared the gospel with Tatsui Sato, a Christian man living in Narumi. Sato had read about Latter-day Saints before and recalled beautiful images of the Salt Lake Temple against a backdrop of snow-covered mountains. Sato, who spoke English fluently, served as translator for the soldiers as they taught the gospel to his family and friends. On July 7, 1946, Sato and his wife, Chiyo, were among the first three local converts baptized following the war.

Shortly after his baptism, Sato began serving as mission translator. Over the next several years, Sato translated several pamphlets and other Church-published materials including Elder James E. Talmage’s Jesus the Christ. In 1949 Elder Matthew Cowley of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles visited the Sato home, ordained Tatsui an elder, and set him apart as an interpreter and translator for the Japanese people “for the rest of [his] life.” Sato later translated the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, Pearl of Great Price, and the temple ceremonies.