The ambassador of Japan to Australia is an officer of the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the head of the Embassy of Japan to the Commonwealth of Australia. The position has the rank and status of an ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary and holds non-resident accreditation for Fiji and Papua New Guinea. The ambassador is based at the embassy at 112 Empire Circuit, Yarralumla in Canberra. The Ambassador is currently Kazuhiro Suzuki.
Japan and Australia have enjoyed full diplomatic relations since 1941 when Tatsuo Kawai was appointed Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of Japan to Australia, although relations were severed after less than a year owing to the outbreak of the Pacific War in December 1941. Relations were restored in 1952 and have continued since then.
Office-holders Minister IncumbentStart of termEnd of termNotesTatsuo Kawai2 January 19417 December 1941Suspension of relations
Ambassadors, 1952–present IncumbentStart of termEnd of termNotesHaruhiko Nishi10 September 195214 June 1955Tadakatsu Suzuki14 June 195511 March 1959Katsushiro NaritaMarch 19597 April 1961Saburo Ohta7 April 196130 December 1965Koh Chiba30 December 196518 August 1967Fumihiko Kai18 August 19675 December 1969Shizuo Saito5 December 19697 August 1973Kenzo Yoshida7 August 197320 January 1976Yoshio Okawara20 January 1976February 1980Mizuo KurodaApril 1980October 1982Kensuke Yanagiya2 December 1982December 1984Toshijiro NakajimaDecember 1984August 1987Kenichi YanagiNovember 1987March 1990Hiromu FukadaMarch 19907 February 1992Kazutoshi Hasegawa7 February 19921996Yukio Satoh19961998Masaji TakahashiSeptember 1998January 2001Atsushi HatakenakaJanuary 2001September 2003Kenzo OshimaSeptember 2003December 2004Hideaki UedaJanuary 2005September 2007Takaaki KojimaSeptember 2007July 2010Shigekazu SatoJuly 2010November 2012Yoshitaka AkimotoNovember 2012April 2015Sumio KusakaApril 2015January 2019Reiichiro TakahashiJanuary 2019December 2020Shingo YamagamiFebruary 2021March 2023Kazuhiro SuzukiMarch 2023Present
See also List of ambassadors of Australia to Japan
References
External links Embassy of Japan in Australia