Building on President Obama's Visit
Japan Chair Forum "Building on President Obama's Visit"
The Hon. Ichiro Fujisaki
Ambassador of Japan to the United States
Moderator:
Michael J. Green
Senior Adviser & Japan Chair, CSIS
Associate Professor, Georgetown University
Ambassador Ichiro Fujisaki returned to the United States as the Ambassador of Japan in June 2008. He served as the political minister of the Embassy of Japan in Washington, DC, from 1995-99. His association with the U.S. started in the early 1960’s when he spent a year in Seattle, Washington as a junior high student. He also studied at Brown University and Stanford University Graduate School in the early 1970’s.
As a diplomat, he has also served in Jakarta, Paris (OECD), and London. Prior to his current post, he served as Ambassador to the UN and to the WTO in Geneva where he served as the Chairman of the Executive Committee of UNHCR (UN High Commissioner for Refugees).
In the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Tokyo, he has held such posts as Deputy Director-General for Asian Affairs and Director-General for North American Affairs before being appointed as the Deputy Foreign Minister. He has also served as the Sherpa of the Prime Minister to G8 Summit meetings.
Fujisaki was a research associate at IISS (International Institute for Strategic Studies) in London from 1987-88. He taught as a lecturer of International Relations at Sophia University in Tokyo from 1991-95. Since his arrival in Washington, he has spoken at Brigham Young University, Columbia, Georgetown, Harvard, SAIS, Saint Joseph’s, Stanford, and Yale as well as several organizations in Washington, DC.
He will attend the upcoming Japan-U.S. Summit meeting between President Obama and Prime Minister Kan.
