United States Ambassador to Japan

Ambassador of the United States to Japan
日本駐在アメリカ合衆国大使

Seal of the United States Department of State
Incumbent
Caroline Bouvier Kennedy
since November 12, 2013
Nominator President of the United States
Formation November 5, 1859
Website U.S. Embassy - Tokyo

The Ambassador of the United States of America to the State of Japan (Japanese: 日本駐在アメリカ合衆国大使 Hepburn: Nihon Chūzai Amerika Gasshūkoku Taishi) is the ambassador from the United States of America to Japan.

History

Since the opening of Japan by Commodore Matthew C. Perry, in 1854, the U.S. has maintained diplomatic relations with Japan, except for the ten-year period between the attack on Pearl Harbor (and the subsequent declaration of war on Japan by the United States) and the signing of the Treaty of San Francisco, which normalized relations between the United States and Japan. The United States maintains an embassy in Tokyo, with consulates-general in Osaka, Nagoya, Sapporo, Fukuoka, and Naha.

Due to the significance of the relations between the two countries in recent years on trade and defense, with Japan being described by the United States State Department as "the cornerstone of U.S. security interests in Asia," [1] the post has been held by many significant American politicians, including Mike Mansfield, Walter Mondale, Tom Foley and Howard Baker.

The current ambassador to Japan is Caroline Kennedy, who was nominated by President Barack Obama and confirmed by the Senate on October 16, 2013. Kennedy was sworn in by Secretary of State John Kerry on November 12, 2013, and presented her credentials to Akihito, Emperor of Japan, on November 19, 2013. [2][3]

List of chiefs of mission

The following is a list of chiefs of mission.

Resident Ministers

  1. Townsend Harris (Presented credentials, November 5, 1859–Presented recall, April 26, 1862)
  2. Robert H. Pruyn (Presented credentials, May 17, 1862-Left Japan, April 28, 1865)
  3. Chauncey Depew (commissioned during a recess of Senate; declined appointment)
  4. Robert B. Van Valkenburgh (Presented credentials, May 4, 1867–Presented recall, November 11, 1869)
  5. Charles E. DeLong (Presented credentials, November 11, 1869-promoted to Envoy)

Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary

Name Presented credentials End of term End of date
Charles E. DeLong June 9, 1872 Farewell address October 7, 1873
John Bingham October 7, 1873 Presented recall July 2, 1885
Richard B. Hubbard July 2, 1885 Presented recall May 15, 1889
John Franklin Swift May 15, 1889 Died at post March 10, 1891
Frank Coombs June 13, 1892 Presented recall July 14, 1893
Edwin Dun July 14, 1893 Presented recall July 2, 1897
Alfred Buck June 3, 1898 Died at post December 4, 1902
Lloyd Carpenter Griscom June 22, 1903 Left Japan November 19, 1905

Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary

Name Presented credentials End of term End of date
Luke E. Wright May 26, 1906 Left Japan August 13, 1907
Thomas J. O'Brien October 15, 1907 Left Post August 31, 1911
Charles Page Bryan November 22, 1911 Left Post October 1, 1912
Larz Anderson February 1, 1913 Left Japan March 15, 1913
George W. Guthrie August 7, 1913 Died at post March 8, 1917
Roland Morris October 30, 1917 Left Japan May 15, 1920
Charles B. Warren September 24, 1921 Left Japan January 28, 1922
Cyrus Woods July 21, 1923 Left Japan June 5, 1924
Edgar Bancroft November 19, 1924 Died at post July 27, 1925
Charles MacVeagh December 9, 1925 Left Japan December 6, 1928
William Castle, Jr. January 24, 1930 Left Japan May 27, 1930
W. Cameron Forbes September 15, 1930 Left Japan March 22, 1932
Joseph Grew June 14, 1932 American declaration of war December 8, 1941
William J. Sebald 1945 1952
Robert D. Murphy May 9, 1952 Relinquished Charge April 28, 1953
John M. Allison May 28, 1953 Left Post February 2, 1957
Douglas MacArthur II February 25, 1957 Left Post March 12, 1961
Edwin Reischauer April 27, 1961 Left Post August 19, 1966
U. Alexis Johnson November 8, 1966 Left Post January 15, 1969
Armin H. Meyer July 3, 1969 Left Post March 27, 1972
Robert Stephen Ingersoll April 12, 1972 Left Post November 8, 1973
James D. Hodgson July 19, 1974 Left Post February 2, 1977
Mike Mansfield June 10, 1977 Left Post December 22, 1988
Michael Armacost May 15, 1989 Left Post July 19, 1993
Walter Mondale September 21, 1993 Left Post December 15, 1996
Thomas S. Foley November 19, 1997 Left Post April 1, 2001
Howard Henry Baker, Jr. July 5, 2001 Farewell address February 17, 2005
Tom Schieffer April 11, 2005 Left Post January 20, 2009
John Roos August 20, 2009 Left Post August 12, 2013
Caroline Kennedy November 12, 2013

Notes

  1. ↑ "U.S. Relations With Japan". U.S Department of State. U.S Department of State, Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
  2. ↑ "Caroline Kennedy sworn in as ambassador to Japan". CBS News. November 12, 2013. Retrieved 2013-12-11.
  3. ↑ ELAINE KURTENBACH (November 19, 2013). "US envoy Caroline Kennedy meets Japan's emperor". Houston Chronicle.

See also

References

External links

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