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Ryozo Kato to become longest-serving Japan ambassador to U.S.

WASHINGTON, United States - File photo of Ryozo Kato, who will become the longest-serving Japanese ambassador to the United States on Sunday, having carried out his duties in Washington for over five years and nine months. Kato, 65, who was appointed ambassador in September 2001 and assumed his duties in late October that year, will break the previous record set by Koichiro Asakai from 1957 to 1963.

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NPB head Kato announces resignation

TOKYO, Japan - Nippon Professional Baseball Commissioner Ryozo Kato (back L) is pictured at the owners' meeting on Sept. 19, 2013. Kato announced his resignation at the meeting. He had come under fire in June, when it was revealed that NPB had secretly altered the baseball used by its two leagues.

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NPB head Kato announces resignation

TOKYO, Japan - A meeting of the professional baseball owners is held in Tokyo on Sept. 19, 2013. Nippon Professional Baseball Commissioner Ryozo Kato (back, center L) announced his resignation at the meeting. He had come under fire in June, when it was revealed that NPB had secretly altered the baseball used by its two leagues.

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NPB head Kato announces resignation

TOKYO, Japan - Nippon Professional Baseball Commissioner Ryozo Kato enters a room at a hotel in Tokyo to attend the owners' meeting on Sept. 19, 2013. Kato announced his resignation at the meeting. He had come under fire in June, when it was revealed that NPB had secretly altered the baseball used by its two leagues.

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NPB head Kato intends to resign

TOKYO, Japan - Photo shows Nippon Professional Baseball Commissioner Ryozo Kato. Kato, 72, intends to resign, sources close to the matter said Sept. 19, 2013. He came under fire earlier in the year after the Japanese league secretly altered its ball.

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Baseball/softball Olympic bid

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina - (From L) International Softball Federation President Don Porter, International Baseball Federation President Ricardo Fraccari and Nippon Professional Baseball Commissioner Ryozo Kato hold a press conference in Buenos Aires on Sept. 6, 2013. Members of the International Olympic Committee will vote in the Argentine capital on Sept. 8, 2013, to select the one last sport to be included in the 2020 Summer Olympics from among wrestling, baseball/softball and squash.

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NPB ball change revelation

TOKYO, Japan - Nippon Professional Baseball commissioner Ryozo Kato (R) attends a press conference in Tokyo on June 12, 2013, with NPB secretary general Kunio Shimoda, after NPB admitted the previous day it had changed its official ball for the 2013 season. NPB had previously denied that the increase in home runs during the current season had anything to do with changes to the ball.

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NPB ball change revelation

TOKYO, Japan - Nippon Professional Baseball commissioner Ryozo Kato attends a press conference in Tokyo on June 12, 2013, after NPB admitted the previous day it had changed its official ball for the 2013 season. NPB had previously denied that the increase in home runs during the current season had anything to do with changes to the ball.

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NPB ball change revelation

TOKYO, Japan - Nippon Professional Baseball holds a press conference with commissioner Ryozo Kato (3rd from front) in Tokyo on June 12, 2013, after admitting the previous day it had changed its official ball for the 2013 season. NPB had previously denied that the increase in home runs during the current season had anything to do with changes to the ball.

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NPB ball change revelation

TOKYO, Japan - Nippon Professional Baseball commissioner Ryozo Kato attends a press conference in Tokyo on June 12, 2013, after NPB admitted the previous day it had changed its official ball for the 2013 season. NPB had previously denied that the increase in home runs during the current season had anything to do with changes to the ball.

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NPB ball change revelation

TOKYO, Japan - Nippon Professional Baseball commissioner Ryozo Kato attends a press conference in Tokyo on June 12, 2013, after NPB admitted the previous day it had changed its official ball for the 2013 season. NPB had previously denied that the increase in home runs during the current season had anything to do with changes to the ball.

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NPB ball change revelation

TOKYO, Japan - Nippon Professional Baseball commissioner Ryozo Kato attends a press conference in Tokyo on June 12, 2013, after NPB admitted the previous day it had changed its official ball for the 2013 season. NPB had previously denied that the increase in home runs during the current season had anything to do with changes to the ball.

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NPB admits changing ball for current season

TOKYO, Japan - File photo taken in Tokyo in August 2010 shows Nippon Professional Baseball commissioner Ryozo Kato showing off a new ball, as well as its cross section, to be used by the 12 professional baseball teams of the Japanese Central and Pacific leagues from the 2011 season. NPB admitted June 11, 2013, that it had changed its official ball prior to the start of the current season, which has seen markedly more home runs.

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Japan to use MLB-like baseballs

TOKYO, Japan - Nippon Professional Baseball commissioner Ryozo Kato shows off a new ball and its cross section to be used as a standardized ball by the 12 professional baseball teams of the Japanese Central and Pacific leagues from next season on Aug. 23, 2010, in Tokyo. The specifications of the new ball will be closer to that of Major League Baseball. NPB hopes using the new balls will give Japanese players an edge in international tournaments like the World Baseball Classic.

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Oh appointed as Japanese baseball ambassador

TOKYO, Japan - Former Softbank Hawks manager Sadaharu Oh (L), who currently serves as an adviser to Japanese baseball commissioner Ryozo Kato, talks with Prime Minister Taro Aso (R) at the premier's office in Tokyo on Feb. 26. Oh called on the prime minister after accepting a government request from Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone that he assume the post of special ambassador for Japanese baseball.

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Oh appointed as Japanese baseball ambassador

TOKYO, Japan - Former Softbank Hawks manager Sadaharu Oh (L), who currently serves as an adviser to Japanese baseball commissioner Ryozo Kato, shakes hands with Prime Minister Taro Aso at the premier's office in Tokyo on Feb. 26. Oh called on the prime minister after accepting a government request from Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone that he assume the post of special ambassador for Japanese baseball.

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Hara accepts offer to become Japan's WBC manager

TOKYO, Japan - Japanese baseball commissioner Ryozo Kato (R) and Yomiuri Giants manager Tatsunori Hara shake hands at the Giants dorm in Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture, as Kato visits to ask Hara to become the skipper of the national team for next year's World Baseball Classic. Hara, 50, accepted the offer.

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Hara picked as Japan's WBC manager

TOKYO, Japan - Japanese baseball commissioner Ryozo Kato (R) and Sadaharu Oh (L), who serves as a special adviser for arranging Japan's World Baseball Classic team, hold a news conference in Tokyo on Oct. 27 at which they said they will ask Yomiuri Giants manager Tatsunori Hara to assume the post of Japanese WBC team manager.

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Oh gets advisory role for 2009 WBC

TOKYO, Japan - Japanese baseball commissioner Ryozo Kato announces at a press conference in Tokyo on Oct. 9 that Sadaharu Oh, who has left his post as manager of the Softbank Hawks, has been appointed as his special adviser ahead of next year's World Baseball Classic.

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Kato begins NPB commissioner assignment

TOKYO, Japan - Former Japanese Ambassador to the United States Ryozo Kato, who assumed the post of Nippon Professional Baseball commissioner on July 1, visits the commissioner's office in Tokyo the same day.

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Former Japan envoy to U.S. Kato appointed baseball commissioner

TOKYO, Japan - Yasuchika Negoro (L), acting commissioner of Nippon Professional Baseball, and Ryozo Kato, former Japanese ambassador to the United States, shake hands at a hotel in Tokyo on June 18 after Japanese baseball club owners approved Kato's appointment as Nippon Professional Baseball commissioner to replace Negoro.

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Former Japan envoy to U.S. Kato appointed baseball commissioner

TOKYO, Japan - Ryozo Kato, former Japanese ambassador to the United States, speaks at a news conference at a hotel in Tokyo on June 18 after Japanese baseball club owners approved his appointment as Nippon Professional Baseball commissioner.

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Ceremony of 100th anniversary of Portsmouth Treaty

PORTSMOUTH, United States - Japanese Ambassador Ryozo Kato (C) delivers a speech during a ceremony to mark the 100th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Portsmouth at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine, on Sept. 5.

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U.S. senators urge progress on beef issue during Rice's visit

WASHINGTON, United States - Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (2nd from R) and ranking member Max Baucus meet with Japanese Ambassador to the United States Ryozo Kato (L) in Washington on March 14.

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U.S. lawmakers press for deadline on beef issue

WASHINGTON, United States - Sen. Wayne Allard, a Republican from Colorado, speaks to reporters in Washington on March 11 after meeting with Japanese Ambassador to the United States Ryozo Kato. A bipartisan group of 13 U.S. lawmakers summoned Kato and urged Japan to set a timeframe to quickly lift its 15-month-old import ban on U.S. beef.

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Inamine urges Japan's new U.S. envoy to push for base cut

NAHA, Japan - Ryozo Kato (L), newly appointed Japanese ambassador to the United States, talks with Okinawa Gov. Keiichi Inamine at the prefectural government office in Naha on Oct. 9. Inamine asked Kato to press for a reduction in the concentration of U.S. bases in the prefecture when he takes up his post.

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Tanaka meets the press

TOKYO, Japan - Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka looks at a journalist during her news conference Aug. 3. Earlier in the day, Tanaka reluctantly agreed to name Deputy Foreign Minister Ryozo Kato as Japanese Ambassador to the United States, putting an end to a feud with Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi over a major personnel reshuffle at her ministry.

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Kato to be named new Japanese envoy to Washington

TOKYO, Japan - File photos show (from L to R) Deputy Foreign Minister Ryozo Kato, who will be named new Japanese ambassador to the United States, and Deputy Foreign Minister Yoshiji Nogami, who will succeed Kato. Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka said Aug. 3 that their appointments will be approved at a cabinet meeting Aug. 10.

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Armitage briefs Japan on U.S. missile defense plan

TOKYO, Japan - U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage (R) and Japanese Deputy Foreign Minister Ryozo Kato exchange greetings at the Foreign Ministry in Tokyo on May 8. Armitage briefed Kato and other Japanese government officials on President George W. Bush's missile defense proposal.

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Japan, Russia agree to inform citizens on peace treaty talks

TOKYO, Japan - Ryozo Kato (L), Japan's deputy foreign minister, shakes hands with Russian Vice Foreign Minister Alexander Losyukov at the outset of one-day talks in Tokyo on March 5. In the meeting, the vice foreign ministers agreed to inform their citizens about past peace treaty talks and the path for future negotiations on the occasion of a bilateral summit scheduled for March 25 in Irkutsk, eastern Siberia.

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U.S. lawmakers press for deadline on beef issue

WASHINGTON, United States - Sen. Wayne Allard, a Republican from Colorado, speaks to reporters in Washington on March 11 after meeting with Japanese Ambassador to the United States Ryozo Kato. A bipartisan group of 13 U.S. lawmakers summoned Kato and urged Japan to set a timeframe to quickly lift its 15-month-old import ban on U.S. beef. (Kyodo)

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U.S. senators urge progress on beef issue during Rice's visit

WASHINGTON, United States - Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (2nd from R) and ranking member Max Baucus meet with Japanese Ambassador to the United States Ryozo Kato (L) in Washington on March 14. (Kyodo)

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Ryozo Kato to become longest-serving Japan ambassador to U.S.

WASHINGTON, United States - File photo of Ryozo Kato, who will become the longest-serving Japanese ambassador to the United States on Sunday, having carried out his duties in Washington for over five years and nine months. Kato, 65, who was appointed ambassador in September 2001 and assumed his duties in late October that year, will break the previous record set by Koichiro Asakai from 1957 to 1963. (Kyodo)

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Japan envoy Kato says alliance with U.S. strengthened

WASHINGTON, United States - Outgoing Japanese Ambassador to the United States Ryozo Kato speaks at a news conference at the Japanese Embassy in Washington on May 12. Kato became Japan's longest-serving ambassador to the United States last August, breaking the previous record set by Koichiro Asakai from 1957 to 1963. (Kyodo)

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Former Japan envoy to U.S. Kato appointed baseball commissioner

TOKYO, Japan - Ryozo Kato, former Japanese ambassador to the United States, speaks at a news conference at a hotel in Tokyo on June 18 after Japanese baseball club owners approved his appointment as Nippon Professional Baseball commissioner. (Kyodo)

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Former Japan envoy to U.S. Kato appointed baseball commissioner

TOKYO, Japan - Yasuchika Negoro (L), acting commissioner of Nippon Professional Baseball, and Ryozo Kato, former Japanese ambassador to the United States, shake hands at a hotel in Tokyo on June 18 after Japanese baseball club owners approved Kato's appointment as Nippon Professional Baseball commissioner to replace Negoro. (Kyodo)

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Kato begins NPB commissioner assignment

TOKYO, Japan - Former Japanese Ambassador to the United States Ryozo Kato, who assumed the post of Nippon Professional Baseball commissioner on July 1, visits the commissioner's office in Tokyo the same day. (Kyodo)

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Oh gets advisory role for 2009 WBC

TOKYO, Japan - Japanese baseball commissioner Ryozo Kato announces at a press conference in Tokyo on Oct. 9 that Sadaharu Oh, who has left his post as manager of the Softbank Hawks, has been appointed as his special adviser ahead of next year's World Baseball Classic. (Kyodo)

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Hara picked as Japan's WBC manager

TOKYO, Japan - Japanese baseball commissioner Ryozo Kato (R) and Sadaharu Oh (L), who serves as a special adviser for arranging Japan's World Baseball Classic team, hold a news conference in Tokyo on Oct. 27 at which they said they will ask Yomiuri Giants manager Tatsunori Hara to assume the post of Japanese WBC team manager. (Kyodo)

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Hara accepts offer to become Japan's WBC manager

TOKYO, Japan - Japanese baseball commissioner Ryozo Kato (R) and Yomiuri Giants manager Tatsunori Hara shake hands at the Giants dorm in Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture, as Kato visits to ask Hara to become the skipper of the national team for next year's World Baseball Classic. Hara, 50, accepted the offer. (Kyodo)

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Oh appointed as Japanese baseball ambassador

TOKYO, Japan - Former Softbank Hawks manager Sadaharu Oh (L), who currently serves as an adviser to Japanese baseball commissioner Ryozo Kato, shakes hands with Prime Minister Taro Aso at the premier's office in Tokyo on Feb. 26. Oh called on the prime minister after accepting a government request from Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone that he assume the post of special ambassador for Japanese baseball. (Kyodo)

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Oh appointed as Japanese baseball ambassador

TOKYO, Japan - Former Softbank Hawks manager Sadaharu Oh (L), who currently serves as an adviser to Japanese baseball commissioner Ryozo Kato, talks with Prime Minister Taro Aso (R) at the premier's office in Tokyo on Feb. 26. Oh called on the prime minister after accepting a government request from Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone that he assume the post of special ambassador for Japanese baseball. (Kyodo)

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Armitage briefs Japan on U.S. missile defense plan

TOKYO, Japan - U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage (R) and Japanese Deputy Foreign Minister Ryozo Kato exchange greetings at the Foreign Ministry in Tokyo on May 8. Armitage briefed Kato and other Japanese government officials on President George W. Bush's missile defense proposal.

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Ceremony of 100th anniversary of Portsmouth Treaty

PORTSMOUTH, United States - Japanese Ambassador Ryozo Kato (C) delivers a speech during a ceremony to mark the 100th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Portsmouth at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine, on Sept. 5. (Kyodo)

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Japan to use MLB-like baseballs

TOKYO, Japan - Nippon Professional Baseball commissioner Ryozo Kato shows off a new ball and its cross section to be used as a standardized ball by the 12 professional baseball teams of the Japanese Central and Pacific leagues from next season on Aug. 23, 2010, in Tokyo. The specifications of the new ball will be closer to that of Major League Baseball. NPB hopes using the new balls will give Japanese players an edge in international tournaments like the World Baseball Classic. (Kyodo)

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Inamine urges Japan's new U.S. envoy to push for base cut

NAHA, Japan - Ryozo Kato (L), newly appointed Japanese ambassador to the United States, talks with Okinawa Gov. Keiichi Inamine at the prefectural government office in Naha on Oct. 9. Inamine asked Kato to press for a reduction in the concentration of U.S. bases in the prefecture when he takes up his post.

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Kato named as ambassador to U.S.

TOKYO, Japan - Ryozo Kato (file photo), former deputy vice foreign minister, is appointed Sept. 11 as Japanese ambassador to the United States. The appointment will take effect on Sept. 12.

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Kato to be named new Japanese envoy to Washington

TOKYO, Japan - File photos show (from L to R) Deputy Foreign Minister Ryozo Kato, who will be named new Japanese ambassador to the United States, and Deputy Foreign Minister Yoshiji Nogami, who will succeed Kato. Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka said Aug. 3 that their appointments will be approved at a cabinet meeting Aug. 10.

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Japan, Russia agree to inform citizens on peace treaty talks

TOKYO, Japan - Ryozo Kato (L), Japan's deputy foreign minister, shakes hands with Russian Vice Foreign Minister Alexander Losyukov at the outset of one-day talks in Tokyo on March 5. In the meeting, the vice foreign ministers agreed to inform their citizens about past peace treaty talks and the path for future negotiations on the occasion of a bilateral summit scheduled for March 25 in Irkutsk, eastern Siberia.