Makoto Sato (born 1952) is a Japanese historian specializing in the history of ancient Japan. He is Professor Emeritus at the University of Tokyo and has served as Director of the Yokohama History Museum and the Kumamoto Museum of Literature and History. He holds a Ph.D. in Literature and is widely recognized for his pioneering research on ancient Japanese history through the analysis of excavated wooden tablets (mokkan) and other archaeological written materials. His scholarship has advanced the study of the formation of the ancient Japanese state, urban development, local administration, and Japan's relations with East Asia. He has also edited and authored accessible works for general readers, including the Lectures on Ancient Japanese History (Kodai-shi Kōgi) series and A History of Japan through World Heritage Sites.