[6] He debuted on the international tennis scene in 1929 when the touring Racing Club de Paris visited Japan for a series of exhibition matches.

[4] Also in 1930 he was a runner-up for the Mid-Pacific Invitational tournament losing to American Cranston Holman and the doubles final as well.

[11] He partnered Hyotaro Sato to gain the Beau Site Club de Cannes second meeting trophy [12] and the St. Raphaël T.C.

[13] In singles competition he claimed the Country Club de Monte-Carlo second meeting title (the same tournament in which the Sato pair reached the doubles final).

[18][19] In August 1933 he partnered compatriot Ryosuke Nunoi to win the doubles title at the German Championships in Hamburg.

[20] From 1931 to 1933 Sato played in ten ties for the Japanese Davis Cup team and won 22 rubbers and lost only six, compiling a 79% winning record.

As the day passed, the Japan Davis Cup team was given a banquet hosted by the Japanese consul to Singapore.

That same day a cable was received from the Japanese Lawn Tennis Association insisting on Sato's participation in the Davis Cup and that the voyage should be resumed without delay.

[4] He left two suicide notes, one to his Japanese tennis teammates expressing doubts that he would be able to help the team in the upcoming contest.

Two iron davit-winding handles and a training skip-rope were missing, which Sato probably used to tie weights on himself to make sure he would drown.

After discovery of the new evidence, the ship sent out a radio message stating that "Japan's finest tennis player and national hero was believed to have committed suicide by throwing himself overboard".

Ryuki Miki took over as captain of the Davis Cup team and went on to win the 1934 Wimbledon Championships mixed doubles title the same year.

She further added: "I believe Jiro committed suicide solely from a sense of responsibility after he had acceded to the tennis association's urgings to proceed to Europe, even when he wanted to return from Singapore.

"[6] His brother Hyotaro Sato addressed a call for the Japanese team to not cancel their match and to fight their hardest.