Formation November 5, 1859 | Website U.S. Embassy - Tokyo | |
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Nominator The President of the United States | ||
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.
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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," the post has been held by many significant American politicians, including Mike Mansfield, Walter Mondale, Tom Foley and Howard Baker.
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 H. Pruyn (Presented credentials, May 17, 1862-Left Japan, April 28, 1865)
- Chauncey Depew (commissioned during a recess of Senate; declined appointment)
- Robert B. Van Valkenburgh (Presented credentials, May 4, 1867–Presented recall, November 11, 1869)
- Charles E. DeLong (Presented credentials, November 11, 1869-promoted to Envoy)
Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary