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H.E. Mr. Yutaka Yoshizawa
Ambassador of Japan

Since October of 2008, H.E. Mr. Yutaka Yoshizawa has been the Ambassador of Japan. He is concurrently accredited to Kiribati, Nauru, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.

H.E.Mr. Yoshizawa has thirty-five years of experience in diplomatic arena.
His most recent foreign posting was in Chicago, where he was the Consul General of Japan from 2004 to 2006.

After graduating from the Faculty of Law at the University of Tokyo, H.E.Mr. Yoshizawa entered Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in April of 1974. He then spent two years at the University of Oxford as part of the Ministry’s training program.

Besides Chicago, he served in Washington DC from 1985 to 1987 as the Embassy’s economic officer and in New York from 1993 to 1996 as Consulate’s public relations officer. He also served in New Delhi, India (1983-84), Pretoria, South Africa (1996-98) and Beijing, China (1998-2000).

His assignments in Japan include Director of Human Rights and Refugee Division of the Foreign Ministry (1991-1993) and Cabinet Councilor in charge of the drafting of legislation for Japan’s participation in UN Peace Keeping Operations and Managing Director for General Affairs of the Japan Foundation, an organization for international cultural exchange.

Immediately before he came to Fiji, he was Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Capital Formation of the Development Bank of Japan (2004-06)

Mr. Yoshizawa is married with a son. He currently resides in Tamavua with his wife Fumiko. He was born in Tokyo in February, 1951. He plays golf and he likes to visit places of historic interests and reads books on history and international law.