From September to November 1968, Sakata and the ESRC gathered information from people involved, concluding in the creation of a document recommending radical change to university structure.

[7] In the following year, Sakata worked to push the Act on Temporary Measures Concerning University Management through the National Diet, curbing student activism greatly.

[6] In a statement made at the Educational Committee of the House of Representatives in 1970, Sakata announced a plan to open the University of the Air by 1973.

However, he was stuck in London with his wife and was told to immediately return to Japan as Takeo Miki had just been appointed Prime Minister.

In an interview, Sakata recalls that he took the job with "light-hearted kind of feelings [sic]" because he was interested, as an educationist, in such subjects as the education of soldiers.

[17] The plan put into government policy the "standard defense force concept" – the idea that the JSDF would have enough military power to not lose a war, but not win it at the same time.

[22] The conclusion on Japan's defense situation made in the NDPO was that: Assuming that the international political structure in this region—along with continuing efforts for global stabilization—will not undergo any major changes for some time to come, and that Japan’s domestic conditions will also remain fundamentally stable, the most appropriate defense goal would seem to be the maintenance of a full surveillance posture in peacetime and the ability to cope effectively with situations up to the point of limited and small-scale aggression.

[23] Sakata preferred the idea that Japan's national defense budget would not exceed one percent of the country's Gross National Product, but argued against the Ministry of Finance that the one percent ceiling would come soon, and that considering American policy towards Japan at the time (encouragement for the buildup of the Japanese military), the limit was unwise to be officially imposed.

During his term as Speaker, he helped establish a council on political ethics within the House to counter corruption following Prime Minister Tanaka's involvement in the Lockheed bribery scandals.

In 1989, after the resignation of Prime Minister Noboru Takeshita, Sakata was considered as a strong potential successor and was recommended as one by party leadership.