Satō was born on 21 March 1989 in Iwatsuki-ku, Saitama. He has a younger sister; his parents divorced when he was in middle school. He played baseball during primary and middle school years, and has a black belt in Shorinji Kempo. Satō briefly worked as a child actor for 3 or 4 years, appearing in commercials and magazine photo shoots. After entered higher grades in elementary school, he decided not to continue as a child actor due to a "shy personality". He graduated from Koshigaya Kita High School, Saitama in 2007. In the same year, while shooting Kamen Rider Den-O, he was diagnosed with primary Pneumothorax after complaining about pain in the left chest, and has since recovered. He celebrated his 20th birthday with a festival in Odaiba in Tokyo, called "Takeru Festival 2009".
Career
2006–2008: Early works
Satō was scouted by an agent from Amuse, Inc. in Harajuku in Tokyo when he was in senior high school, and made his debut in 2006. His first drama was Princess Princess D where he played the role of Toru Kouno. In 2007, he guest-starred in Shinigami no Ballad and gained popularity in the seventeenth installment of the Kamen Rider series as Ryotaro Nogami. Satō attributes the popularity of Den-O to its comedic timing.
2009–2011: Breakthrough
Following the success and popularity of Kamen Rider Den-O and its two further cinematic releases, in the spring of 2008, Satō starred in the award-winning TBS drama Rookies as Yuya Okada, one member of a high school baseball club consisting of a group of delinquents. Satō considers his role in Rookies to be his breakout role even though he only played a minor supporting role, as Rookies was shown on prime time television and able to reach a much larger audience than any of his previous works. Satō also starred in the live-action in the summer of 2009. Satō reprised his role as Ryotaro in the of Kamen Rider Den-O in October 2008. He also starred in the drama Bloody Monday, based on the manga with the same name. In the following two years, Satō starred or guest-starred in TV shows such as Mei-chan no Shitsuji, Mr. Brain, True Horror Stories and MW Dai-0-sho, and in films such as Goemon and Beck. In 2010, he played Okada Izō in his first Taiga dramaRyōmaden, and landed his first leading role on prime time television with teen drama Q10. On 28 June 2011, he was confirmed to star as Himura Kenshin in a live action film adaptation of the manga series Rurouni Kenshin.
2012—present: ''[Rurouni Kenshin]'', its movie sequels and career expansion
Released in August 2012, the film grossed a total of 3.01 billion yen at the domestic box office. Satō made his stage debut as Romeo in the Japanese adaptation of Shakespearean classic Romeo and Juliet in May 2012. His subsequent project Tonbi was a drama series based on a novel by Shigematsu Kiyoshi. He then starred in Real, a science fiction mystery movie directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa, as well as The Liar and His Lover, a live-adaptation film based on the manga Kanojo wa Uso o Aishisugiteru. In 2014, Satō played the role of a rookie detective in Fuji TV's Bitter Blood. He reprised the role of Himura Kenshin in two sequel films of Rurouni Kenshin live action franchise, ' and ', both of which were released in 2014. Rurouni Kenshin manga author Nobuhiro Watsuki praised Satō's performance and called him the ideal actor to portray Kenshin. He, alongside Rurouni Kenshin co-stars Emi Takei, Munetaka Aoki, and director Keishi Otomo was appointed as "Cultural Friendship Ambassador" to the Philippines by the Makati City council on 7 August 2014. Riding upon his movie success, he made his TV return with the acclaimed TBS series The Emperor's Cook in early 2015. He followed up with 3 Toho Corporation films in 2015 and 2016 including the manga live adaptation Bakuman and light novel adaptation If Cats Disappeared from the World, as well as Somebody. His role in the 2017 film The 8-Year Engagement earned him a nomination for best actor at the 41st Japan Academy Prize. In 2018, he starred in two award-winning television series: NHK AsadoraHanbun, Aoi and TBS series Blues of Stepmother and Daughter. In the same year he reprised the role of Ryotaro Nogami in the last Kamen Rider movie of the Heisei period. In 2018 it was announced that the Rurouni Kenshin series will get two further installments, a prequel and a sequel to the original trilogy with Satō reprising his lead role. Principal filming wrapped in June 2019 and the movies will be screened in 2020.
