Saitō Makoto

Viscount Saitō Makoto was a Japanese admiral and politician who was prime minister of Japan from 1932 to 1934. Upon distinguishing himself during his command of two cruisers in the First Sino-Japanese War, Saitō rose rapidly to the rank of rear admiral by 1900. He was promoted to vice admiral during the Russo-Japanese War in 1904. After serving as Minister of the Navy from 1906 to 1914, Saitō held the position of Governor-General of Korea from 1919 to 1927 and again from 1929 to 1931. When Inukai Tsuyoshi was assassinated in May 1932, he took his place as prime minister and served one term in office. Saitō returned to public service as Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal in February 1935 but was assassinated only a year later during the February 26 Incident. Saitō along with Takahashi Korekiyo were the last former prime ministers of Japan to be assassinated until 2022, with the assassination of Shinzo Abe.