The government appointed Masaji Takahashi as ambassador to Australia on Tuesday, Foreign Ministry officials said.
Takahashi, 61, has served as ambassador to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and ambassador in charge of the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization.
The ministry also appointed Tomoyuki Abe as director general of the Latin American and Caribbean Affairs Bureau. Abe, 55, has been serving as consul general in Chicago since July 1996.