Eisaku Satō (佐藤 栄佐久, Satō Eisaku) (born 24 June 1939) is a Japanese politician who served as the governor of Fukushima Prefecture of Japan from 1988 to 2006. Sato was initially an enthusiastic supporter of nuclear power. Like his predecessors he appreciated the jobs and subsidies associated with the nuclear plants in the prefecture. He believed it was part of Fukushima playing a role in the Japanese nation as a whole. In 1998 he conditionally agreed the controversial use of mixed oxide plutonium uranium fuel (MOX) at the Fukushima plant, withdrawing his support after discovering a cover-up of reactor malfunctions and cracks.