Eileen Kato, who died Aug. 30 at the age of 76, was one of the most remarkable Irish women of her generation. Kato was born in Bangor Erris, County Mayo, in Ireland in 1932.
She was a brilliant student and won numerous prizes and scholarships during her academic career. University College, Galway, the University of Poitiers, the Sorbonne in Paris and later Columbia in New York all recognized her abilities.
In Poitiers, France, she met the man who would become her husband, diplomat Yoshiya Kato, the love of her life. She came to live in Japan in 1958.