List of ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Japan

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.


British Ambassador
to Japan
Royal Arms of His Majesty's Government
Incumbent
Julia Longbottom
since March 2021
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
British Embassy, Tokyo
StyleHer Excellency
Reports toSecretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
AppointerKing Charles III
Term lengthAt His Majesty's pleasure
Inaugural holderSir Claude MacDonald
Formation1905
Salary£115,000-£120,000[1]
WebsiteBritish Embassy Tokyo

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 1858Queen Victoria
Kōmei
Sir Rutherford Alcock[3] 1859 1865
Sir Harry Parkes[4] 1865 1883
Meiji
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
Edward VII

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

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

Political Representative

Ambassadors
Head of mission  Tenure 
begins		  Tenure 
ends		  British monarch   Japanese emperor 
Sir Esler Dening[17]     1952 1957Elizabeth II
Shōwa
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
Heisei
(Akihito)
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] 2021Elizabeth II
Charles III
Reiwa
(Naruhito)

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. 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. 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
  17. Nish, pp. 173-178.
  18. Nish, pp. 179-184.
  19. Nish, pp. 185-193.
  20. Nish, pp. 194-201.
  21. Nish, pp. 202-216.
  22. "Hello (again) Japan". British Embassy Tokyo. 3 December 2012. Archived from the original on 13 February 2013.
  23. "Ambassador's Video Message: Paul Madden arrives in Japan". British Embassy Tokyo. 18 January 2017. Retrieved 25 January 2017.
  24. "Change of Her Majesty's Ambassador to Japan: Julia Longbottom". British Embassy Tokyo. 14 December 2020. Retrieved 3 March 2021.

References
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