United States Ambassador to Japan

The United States Ambassador to Japan is the ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary from the United States to Japan. Since the opening of Japan by Commodore Matthew C. Perry, in 1854, the U.S. maintained diplomatic relations with Japan, except for the ten-year period following the attack on Pearl Harbor and the subsequent declaration of war on Japan by the United States. The United States maintains an embassy in Tokyo, with consulates-general in Osaka, Nagoya, Sapporo, Fukuoka, and Naha.

The current ambassador to Japan is Tom Schieffer who was nominated by President George W. Bush on January 21, 2005, and confirmed by the Senate on March 17, 2005. Schieffer presented his credentials to Akihito, Emperor of Japan, on April 11, 2005. He replaced Howard Baker who announced his intention to retire from foreign service in December 2004.

List of chiefs of mission

The following is a list of chiefs of mission.

Resident Ministers

# Townsend Harris (Presented credentials, November 5, 1859-Presented recall, April 26, 1862)
# Robert Pruyn (Presented credentials, May 17, 1862-Left Japan, April 28, 1865)
# Chauncey Depew (commissioned during a recess of Senate; declined appointment)
# Robert Van Valkenburgh (Presented credentials, May 4, 1867-Presented recall, November 11, 1869)
# Charles De Long (Presented credentials, November 11, 1869-promoted to Envoy)

Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary

Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
# Luke E. Wright (Presented credentials, May 26, 1906-Left Japan, August 13, 1907)
# Thomas O'Brian (Presented credentials, October 15, 1907-Left post, August 31, 1911)
# Charles Page Bryan (Presented credentials, November 22, 1911-Left post, October 1, 1912)
# Larz Anderson (Presented credentials, February 1, 1913-Left Japan, March 15, 1913)
# George Guthrie (Presented credentials, August 7, 1913-Died at post, March 8, 1917)
# Roland Morris (Presented credentials, October 30, 1917-Left Japan, May 15, 1920)
# Charles B. Warren (Presented credentials, September 24, 1921-Left Japan, January 28, 1922)
# Cyrus Woods (Presented credentials, July 21, 1923-Left Japan, June 5, 1924)
# Edgar Bancroft (Presented credentials, November 19, 1924-Died at Karuizawa, July 27, 1925)
# Charles MacVeagh (Presented credentials, December 9, 1925-Left Japan, December 6, 1928)
# William Castle, Jr. (Presented credentials, January 24, 1930-Left Japan, May 27, 1930)
# W. Cameron Forbes (Presented credentials, September 25, 1930-Left Japan, March 22, 1932)
# Joseph Grew (Presented credentials, June 14, 1932-Mission terminated, December 8, 1941) (The American declaration of war following the attack on attack on Pearl Harbor severed diplomatic ties with Japan)
# Robert D. Murphy (Presented credentials, May 9, 1952-Relinquished charge, April 28, 1953) (diplomatic relations were reestablished on April 28, 1952 with Murphy in charge pending presentation of his letter of credence)
# John M. Allison (Presented credentials, May 28, 1953-Left post, February 2, 1957)
# Douglas MacArthur II (Presented credentials, February 25, 1957-Left post, March 12, 1961)
# Edwin Reischauer (Presented credentials, April 27, 1961-Left post, August 19, 1966)
# U. Alexis Johnson (Presented credentials, November 8, 1966-Left post, January 15, 1969)
# Armin H. Meyer (Presented credentials, July 3, 1969-Left post, March 27, 1972)
# Robert Stephen Ingersoll (Presented credentials, April 12, 1972-Left post, November 8, 1973)
# James D. Hodgson (Presented credentials, July 19, 1974-Left post, February 2, 1977)
# Mike Mansfield (Presented credentials, June 10, 1977-Left post, December 22, 1988)
# Michael Armacost (Presented credentials, May 15, 1989-Left post, July 19, 1993)
# Walter Mondale (Presented credentials, September 21, 1993-Left post, December 15, 1996)
# Thomas S. Foley (Presented credentials, November 19, 1998-Left post, April 1, 2001)
# Howard Henry Baker, Jr. (Presented credentials, July 5, 2001-Farewell address, February 17, 2005)
# John Thomas Schieffer (Presented credentials, April 11, 2005-"Current")

References

* [http://tokyo.usembassy.gov/t-main.html U.S. Embassy, Tokyo]
* [http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ho/po/com/10891.htm U.S. Dep’t of State: Chiefs of Mission, Japan]
* [http://foia.state.gov/MMS/KOH/key_country.asp?ID=Japan U.S. Dep’t of State: Key officers list: Japan]
* [http://www.state.gov/ U.S. Department of State]