Mitsuko Sato, female, more than 50 years old, was a backbone of Falun Gong in Japan as well as an editor of the Epoch Times, taking charge of translating and editing some articles of the Epoch Times and also working for the Minghui Net in Japan editorially.

In mid-July 2009, Mitsuko suddenly fainted when editing “new scriptures”. Some dozen of Falun Gong practitioners in Japan “sent forth righteous thoughts” at home collectively on July 18 and 19.

On July 20, Mitsuko died due to lack of timely treatment.

The death of Mitsuko caused strong negative influence within Japanese Falun Gong organization. The Japanese Falun Gong organization believed that the sudden death of Mitsuko was a shame, and making it public would go against Falun Gong. So Mitsuko was just buried stealthily without a public funeral.