List of ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Japan

Last updated

Flag of the United Kingdom.svg
British Ambassador
to Japan
Coat of arms of the United Kingdom (2022, lesser arms).svg
Ms Julia Longbottom CMG.jpg
Incumbent
Julia Longbottom
since March 2021
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
British Embassy, Tokyo
Style Her Excellency
Reports to Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs
Appointer King Charles III
Term length At His Majesty's pleasure
Inaugural holder Sir Claude MacDonald
Formation1905
Salary£115,000-£120,000 [1]
Website British Embassy Tokyo

The Ambassador of the United Kingdom to Japan is the United Kingdom's foremost diplomatic representative in Japan, and is the head of the UK's diplomatic mission there.

Contents

The following is a chronological list of British heads of mission (ministers and ambassadors) in Japan from 1859. Before 1905, there were no ambassadors exchanged between the two countries, the highest rank being envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary  a rank just below ambassador. Before 1859, there was no treaty and no diplomatic relations, because Japan was isolated from the world by the Tokugawa shogunate's policy of national isolation called sakoku (literally locked country).

List of heads of mission

Envoys Extraordinary and Ministers Plenipotentiary

Head of mission Tenure 
begins
 Tenure 
ends
  British monarch    Japanese emperor  
James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin [2]    1858 1858 Queen Victoria
Sir Rutherford Alcock [3]  1859 1865
Sir Harry Parkes [4]  1865 1883
Sir Francis Plunkett [5]  1884 1887
Hugh Fraser [6]  1889 1894
Power Henry Le Poer Trench [7]  1894 1895
Sir Ernest Satow [8]  1895 1900
Sir Claude MacDonald [9] [10]  1900 1905

Ambassadors

Head of mission Tenure 
begins
 Tenure 
ends
  British monarch    Japanese emperor  
Sir Claude MacDonald [10]  1905 1912
Sir Conyngham Greene [11]   1912 1919 George V
Sir Charles Eliot [12]  1919 1925
Sir John Tilley [13]  1926 1931
Sir Francis Lindley [14]  1931 1934
Sir Robert Clive [ citation needed ] 1934 1937
Sir Robert Craigie [15]  1937 1941

No representation (1941–1946, due to World War II)

During World War II, Setsuya Beppu worked in a consulate in Dublin in the Irish Free State, and was responsilbe for the Japanese citizens in the UK and Ireland. [16] [17]

Political Representative

Ambassadors

Head of mission Tenure 
begins
 Tenure 
ends
  British monarch    Japanese emperor  
Sir Esler Dening [19]      1952 1957 Elizabeth II
Sir Daniel Lascelles [20]  1957 1959
Sir Oscar Morland [21]  1959 1963
Sir Francis Rundall [22]  1963 1967
Sir John Pilcher [23]  1967 1972
Sir Fred Warner  1972 1975
Sir Michael Wilford  1975 1980
Sir Hugh Cortazzi  1980 1984
Sir Sydney Giffard  1984 1986
Sir John Whitehead  1986 1992
Sir John Boyd  1992 1996
Sir David Wright  1996 1999
Sir Stephen Gomersall                   1999 2004
Sir Graham Fry  2004 2008
Sir David Warren  2008 2012
Tim Hitchens [24]  2012 2016
Paul Madden [25]  2017 2021
Julia Longbottom [26]  2021 Elizabeth II
Charles III

See also

Notes

  1. "Senior staff and salary data, September 2019 - GOV.UK". gov.uk. Foreign and Commonwealth Office . Retrieved 3 March 2021.
  2. Nussbaum, Louis Frédéric et al. (2005). "Elgin, James Bruce, Eighth Duke of" in Japan Encyclopedia, p. 174. , p. 174, at Google Books; n.b., Louis-Frédéric is pseudonym of Louis-Frédéric Nussbaum, see Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Authority File Archived 24 May 2012 at archive.today .
  3. Nussbaum, "Alcock, Rutherford," pp. 22-23. , p. 22, at Google Books
  4. Nussbaum, "Parkes, Harry Smith," p. 174. , p. 174, at Google Books
  5. Ian Nish. (2004). British Envoys in Japan 1859-1972, pp. 53-62.
  6. Nish, pp. 63-71.
  7. Nish, pp. 72-77.
  8. Nussbaum, "Satow, Ernest Mason," p. 829. , p. 829, at Google Books
  9. "No. 27263". The London Gazette . 4 January 1901. p. 81.
  10. 1 2 Nish, pp. 94-102.
  11. Nish, pp. 103-113.
  12. Nussbaum, "Eliot, Charles Norton Edgcumbe," p. 174. , p. 174, at Google Books
  13. Nish, pp. 123-131.
  14. Nish, pp. 132-139.
  15. Nish, pp. 140-156.
  16. 産経新聞 (6 February 2017). "日本びいきのアイリッシュ 大戦「シンガポール陥落」…首都では日本領事囲み祝賀会(2/2ページ)". 産経新聞:産経ニュース (in Japanese). Retrieved 14 September 2024.
  17. "日愛外交関係樹立50周年記念 (潮田哲,淑子ご夫妻に聞く) 「聞き語り日愛半世紀」 第2回:「太平洋戦争と2人のアイリッシュ」". 在アイルランド日本国大使館 (Embassy of Japan, Dublin) (in Japanese). 23 October 2024.
  18. Hoare, James. (1999). Embassies in the East: the Story of the British Embassies in Japan, China, and Korea from 1859 to the Present, p. 214. , p. 214, at Google Books
  19. 1 2 Nish, pp. 173-178.
  20. Nish, pp. 179-184.
  21. Nish, pp. 185-193.
  22. Nish, pp. 194-201.
  23. Nish, pp. 202-216.
  24. "Hello (again) Japan". British Embassy Tokyo. 3 December 2012. Archived from the original on 13 February 2013.
  25. "Ambassador's Video Message: Paul Madden arrives in Japan". British Embassy Tokyo. 18 January 2017. Retrieved 25 January 2017.
  26. "Change of Her Majesty's Ambassador to Japan: Julia Longbottom". British Embassy Tokyo. 14 December 2020. Retrieved 3 March 2021.

References