List of ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Japan
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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.
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 British Ambassador to Japan | |
|---|---|
| |
| Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office British Embassy, Tokyo | |
| Style | Her Excellency |
| Reports to | Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs |
| Appointer | King Charles III |
| Term length | At His Majesty's pleasure |
| Inaugural holder | Sir Claude MacDonald |
| Formation | 1905 |
| Salary | £115,000-£120,000[1] |
| Website | British 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 | 1858 | Queen Victoria | |
| Sir Rutherford Alcock[3] | 1859 | 1865 | ||
| Sir Harry Parkes[4] | 1865 | 1883 | ||
| 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 |
Ambassadors
| Head of mission | Tenure begins |
Tenure ends |
British monarch | Japanese emperor |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sir Claude MacDonald[10] | 1905 | 1912 | ||
| Sir Conyngham Greene[11] | 1912 | 1919 | George V | |
| Sir Charles Eliot[12] | 1919 | 1925 | ||
| Sir John Tilley[13] | 1926 | 1931 | ||
| Sir Francis Lindley[14] | 1931 | 1934 | ||
| Sir Robert Clive[citation needed] | 1934 | 1937 | ||
| Sir Robert Craigie[15] | 1937 | 1941 | ||
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.[16][17]
Political representatives
- Sir Alvary Gascoigne (1946–1951) [18]
- Sir Esler Dening (1951–1952)[19]
Ambassadors
| Head of mission | Tenure begins |
Tenure ends |
British monarch | Japanese emperor | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sir Esler Dening[19] | 1952 | 1957 | Elizabeth II | ||
| Sir Daniel Lascelles[20] | 1957 | 1959 | |||
| Sir Oscar Morland[21] | 1959 | 1963 | |||
| Sir Francis Rundall[22] | 1963 | 1967 | |||
| Sir John Pilcher[23] | 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 | |||
| 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[24] | 2012 | 2016 | |||
| Paul Madden[25] | 2017 | 2021 | |||
| Julia Longbottom[26] | 2021 | 2026 | Elizabeth II Charles III | ||
| Corin Robertson | 2026 | Charles III |