List of ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Japan

Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use British English Template:Infobox official post 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 plenipotentiaryTemplate:Spaced ndasha 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<ref>Nussbaum, Louis Frédéric et al. (2005). "Elgin, James Bruce, Eighth Duke of" in Template:Google books; n.b., Louis-Frédéric is pseudonym of Louis-Frédéric Nussbaum, see Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Authority File Template:Webarchive.</ref>	1858	1858	Queen Victoria	Kōmei {{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }}
Sir Rutherford Alcock<ref>Nussbaum, "Alcock, Rutherford," Template:Google books</ref>	1859	1865
Sir Harry Parkes<ref>Nussbaum, "Parkes, Harry Smith," Template:Google books</ref>	1865	1883		Meiji {{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }}
Sir Francis Plunkett<ref>Ian Nish. (2004). British Envoys in Japan 1859-1972, pp. 53-62.</ref>	1884	1887
Hugh Fraser<ref>Nish, pp. 63-71.</ref>	1889	1894
Power Henry Le Poer Trench<ref>Nish, pp. 72-77.</ref>	1894	1895
Sir Ernest Satow<ref>Nussbaum, "Satow, Ernest Mason," Template:Google books</ref>	1895	1900
Sir Claude MacDonald<ref>Template:London Gazette</ref><ref name="nish94">Nish, pp. 94-102.</ref>	1900	1905	Edward VII {{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }}

Ambassadors

Head of mission	Tenure  begins	Tenure  ends	British monarch	Japanese emperor
Sir Claude MacDonald<ref name="nish94"/>	1905	1912	Edward VII {{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }}	Meiji {{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }}
Sir Conyngham Greene<ref>Nish, pp. 103-113.</ref>	1912	1919	George V	Taishō {{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }}
Sir Charles Eliot<ref>Nussbaum, "Eliot, Charles Norton Edgcumbe," Template:Google books</ref>	1919	1925
Sir John Tilley<ref>Nish, pp. 123-131.</ref>	1926	1931		Shōwa {{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }}
Sir Francis Lindley<ref>Nish, pp. 132-139.</ref>	1931	1934
Sir Robert CliveTemplate:Cn	1934	1937
Sir Robert Craigie<ref>Nish, pp. 140-156.</ref>	1937	1941	George VI {{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }}

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

During World War II, Setsuya Beppu worked in a consulate in Dublin in the Irish Free State, and was responsible for the Japanese citizens in the UK and Ireland.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Political representatives

• Sir Alvary Gascoigne (1946–1951) <ref>Hoare, James. (1999). Template:Google books</ref>
• Sir Esler Dening (1951–1952)<ref name="denning173">Nish, pp. 173-178.</ref>

Ambassadors

Head of mission	Tenure  begins	Tenure  ends	British monarch	Japanese emperor
Sir Esler Dening<ref name="denning173"/>	1952	1957	Elizabeth II	Shōwa {{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }}
Sir Daniel Lascelles<ref>Nish, pp. 179-184.</ref>	1957	1959
Sir Oscar Morland<ref>Nish, pp. 185-193.</ref>	1959	1963
Sir Francis Rundall<ref>Nish, pp. 194-201.</ref>	1963	1967
Sir John Pilcher<ref>Nish, pp. 202-216.</ref>	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) {{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }}
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<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>|| 2012|| 2016
Paul Madden<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>|| 2017|| 2021
Julia Longbottom<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>|| 2021|| ||rowspan="1" style="text-align:center;" |Elizabeth II Charles III||rowspan="1"| Reiwa (Naruhito) {{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }}

See also

• British Embassy, Tokyo
• Embassy of Japan, London
• Japan–United Kingdom relations
  • Anglo-Japanese Friendship Treaty
  • Anglo-Japanese Treaty of Amity and Commerce
  • Anglo-Japanese Alliance
  • Treaty of San Francisco
• Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
• Foreign relations of the United Kingdom

References

• 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. Template:ISBN; OCLC 42645589
• Ian Nish. (2004). British Envoys in Japan 1859-1972. Folkestone, Kent: Global Oriental. Template:ISBN; OCLC 249167170
• Nussbaum, Louis Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (2005). Japan Encyclopedia. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. Template:ISBN; OCLC 48943301

External links

• {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}

• {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}

• {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}