List of ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Japan
 British Ambassador to Japan | |
|---|---|
.svg) | |
 | |
| Foreign and Commonwealth Office British Embassy, Tokyo | |
| Style | Her Excellency |
| Reports to | Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs |
| Appointer | King Charles III |
| Term length | At His Majesty's pleasure |
| Inaugural holder | Sir Claude MacDonald |
| Formation | 1905 |
| 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.
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
[edit]Envoys Extraordinary and Ministers Plenipotentiary
[edit]| 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
[edit]| 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)
Political Representative
[edit]- Sir Alvary Gascoigne (1946–1951) [16]
- Sir Esler Dening (1951–1952)[17]
Ambassadors
[edit]| Head of mission | Tenure begins |
Tenure ends |
British monarch | Japanese emperor |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sir Esler Dening[17] | 1952 | 1957 | Elizabeth II | |
| Sir Daniel Lascelles[18] | 1957 | 1959 | ||
| Sir Oscar Morland[19] | 1959 | 1963 | ||
| Sir Francis Rundall[20] | 1963 | 1967 | ||
| Sir John Pilcher[21] | 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[22] | 2012 | 2016 | ||
| Paul Madden[23] | 2017 | 2021 | ||
| Julia Longbottom[24] | 2021 | Elizabeth II Charles III |
See also
[edit]- British Embassy, Tokyo
- Embassy of Japan, London
- Japan–United Kingdom relations
- Foreign and Commonwealth Office
- Foreign relations of the United Kingdom
Notes
[edit]- ^ "Senior staff and salary data, September 2019 - GOV.UK". gov.uk. Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Retrieved 3 March 2021.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Nussbaum, "Alcock, Rutherford," pp. 22-23., p. 22, at Google Books
- ^ Nussbaum, "Parkes, Harry Smith," p. 174., p. 174, at Google Books
- ^ Ian Nish. (2004). British Envoys in Japan 1859-1972, pp. 53-62.
- ^ Nish, pp. 63-71.
- ^ Nish, pp. 72-77.
- ^ Nussbaum, "Satow, Ernest Mason," p. 829., p. 829, at Google Books
- ^ "No. 27263". The London Gazette. 4 January 1901. p. 81.
- ^ a b Nish, pp. 94-102.
- ^ Nish, pp. 103-113.
- ^ Nussbaum, "Eliot, Charles Norton Edgcumbe," p. 174., p. 174, at Google Books
- ^ Nish, pp. 123-131.
- ^ Nish, pp. 132-139.
- ^ Nish, pp. 140-156.
- ^ 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
- ^ a b Nish, pp. 173-178.
- ^ Nish, pp. 179-184.
- ^ Nish, pp. 185-193.
- ^ Nish, pp. 194-201.
- ^ Nish, pp. 202-216.
- ^ "Hello (again) Japan". British Embassy Tokyo. 3 December 2012. Archived from the original on 13 February 2013.
- ^ "Ambassador's Video Message: Paul Madden arrives in Japan". British Embassy Tokyo. 18 January 2017. Retrieved 25 January 2017.
- ^ "Change of Her Majesty's Ambassador to Japan: Julia Longbottom". British Embassy Tokyo. 14 December 2020. Retrieved 3 March 2021.
References
[edit]- Hoare, James. (1999). Embassies in the East: the Story of the British Embassies in Japan, China, and Korea from 1859 to the Present. Richmond, Surrey: Curzon Press. ISBN 9780700705122; OCLC 42645589
- Ian Nish. (2004). British Envoys in Japan 1859-1972. Folkestone, Kent: Global Oriental. ISBN 9781901903515; OCLC 249167170
- Nussbaum, Louis Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (2005). Japan Encyclopedia. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-01753-5; OCLC 48943301
External links
[edit]- "UK and Japan". gov.uk.
- "Previous ambassadors to Japan". British Embassy Tokyo. 21 March 2012. Archived from the original on 13 February 2013.
- "History of the Embassy". British Embassy Tokyo. 20 October 2011. Archived from the original on 13 February 2013.