KITAKYUSHU (Kyodo) Keitaro Sato, a prewar coal tycoon who donated the bulk of his vast fortune to charities, has finally been honored as a local hero in the city of Kitakyushu, where he made his name.
Nearly seven decades after his death, a bust of Sato, once dubbed Japan's answer to American industrialist Andrew Carnegie, was unveiled earlier this month at his former residence in Wakamatsu Ward.
It is the third statue of Sato. Another is at the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, considered a landmark legacy of his charity work, and the third at Beppu Art Museum in Oita Prefecture. Both museums were built courtesy of his endowments, which also provided philanthropic support in such fields as education, welfare and public life.