Sato

Japanese (Satō): with Suzuki, one of the two most common surnames in Japan. The Sato descend from the northern Fujiwara through Fujiwara no Hidesato (10th century), who governed Shimotsuke (now Tochigi) prefecture from a place called Sano, hence Sano no Fujiwara or Satō. Another tradition takes the sa from the title Saemon no jō, an office held by a distinguished descendant of Hidesato's.