List of ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Japan

Ambassador of the United Kingdom to Japan
Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom
Incumbent Tim Hitchens since 2012
Inaugural holder	Sir Claude MacDonald
Formation	1905
Website	British Embassy Tokyo

The following is a chronological list of British heads of mission (ministers and ambassadors) in Japan, 1859–as of 2004. 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[1]	1858	1858	Queen Victoria	Kōmei
Sir Rutherford Alcock[2]	1859	1864
Sir Harry Parkes[3]	1865	1883		Meiji
Sir Francis Plunkett[4]	1884	1887
Hugh Fraser[5]	1889	1894
Power Henry Le Poer Trench[6]	1894	1895
Sir Ernest Satow[7]	1895	1900
Sir Claude MacDonald[8][9]	1900	1905	Edward VII

Ambassadors

Head of mission	Tenure  begins	Tenure  ends	British monarch	Japanese emperor
Sir Claude MacDonald[9]	1905	1912	Edward VII	Meiji
Sir Conyngham Greene[10]	1912	1919	George V	Taishō
Sir Charles Eliot[11]	1919	1925
Sir John Tilley[12]	1926	1931		Shōwa
Sir Francis Lindley[13]	1931	1934
Sir Robert Clive[14]	1934	1937
Sir Robert Craigie[15]	1937	1941	George VI

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

Political Representative

• Sir Alvary Gascoigne (1946–1951) ^[16]
• Sir Esler Dening (1951–1952)^[17]

Ambassadors

Head of mission	Tenure  begins	Tenure  ends	British monarch	Japanese emperor
Sir Esler Dening[17]	1952	1957	Elizabeth II	Shōwa (Hirohito)
Sir Daniel Lascelles[18]	1957	1959
Sir Oscar Morland[19]	1959	1963
Sir Francis Rundall[20]	1963	1967
Sir John Pilcher[21]	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		Kinjō (Akihito)
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[22]	2012

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 and Commonwealth Office
• Foreign relations of the United Kingdom

Notes

1. Nussbaum, Louis Frédéric et al. (2005). "Elgin, James Bruce, Eighth Duke of" in Japan Encyclopedia, p. 174., p. 174, at Google Books; n.b., Louis-Frédéric is pseudonym of Louis-Frédéric Nussbaum, see Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Authority File.
2. Nussbaum, "Alcock, Rutherford," pp. 22-23., p. 22, at Google Books
3. Nussbaum, "Parkes, Harry Smith," p. 174., p. 174, at Google Books
4. Ian Nish. (2004). British Envoys in Japan 1859-1972, pp. 53-62.
5. Nish, pp. 63-71.
6. Nish, pp. 72-77.
7. Nussbaum, "Satow, Ernest Mason," p. 829., p. 829, at Google Books
8. The London Gazette: no. 27263. p. 81. 4 January 1901. Retrieved 03-11-2012.
9. Nish, pp. 94-102.
10. Nish, pp. 103-113.
11. Nussbaum, "Eliot, Charles Norton Edgcumbe," p. 174., p. 174, at Google Books
12. Nish, pp. 123-131.
13. Nish, pp. 132-139.
14. Peerage: Sir Robert Henry Clive, ID#239924
15. Nish, pp. 140-156.
16. Hoare, James. (1999). Embassies in the East: the Story of the British Embassies in Japan, China, and Korea from 1859 to the Present, p. 214., p. 214, at Google Books
17. Nish, pp. 173-178.
18. Nish, pp. 179-184.
19. Nish, pp. 185-193.
20. Nish, pp. 194-201.
21. Nish, pp. 202-216.
22. Hello (again) Japan, UK in Japan, 3 Dec 2012

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. ISBN 9780700705122; OCLC 42645589
• Ian Nish. (2004). British Envoys in Japan 1859-1972. Folkestone, Kent: Global Oriental. ISBN 9781901903515; OCLC 249167170
• Nussbaum, Louis Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (2005). Japan Encyclopedia. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-01753-5; OCLC 48943301

External links

• UK in Japan, Chronology of Heads of Mission; History of the British Embassy in Japan