Several new ambassadorial posts were announced Tuesday, including the appointments of veteran diplomats Takahiro Shinyo to Germany, Kyoji Komachi to Thailand and Norihiro Okuda to Japan's permanent mission to the United Nations.
Named as new ambassadors were Seiichi Kondo, to Denmark; Ichiro Komatsu, to Switzerland and Liechtenstein; Yoshinobu Higashi, to Romania; Shoji Ogawa, to Iraq; Iwao Kitahara, to East Timor; Chihiro Atsumi, to Pakistan; Koichi Morita, to Zimbabwe; and Susumu Segawa, to Mozambique.
Tadamichi Yamamoto was named ambassador at Japan's permanent mission to UNESCO, while Keiichi Katakami was confirmed as ambassador to Ghana and Yoshifumi Okamura as ambassador to the Ivory Coast, Togo and Benin.
A new roster of senior Foreign Ministry officials also took effect, including Koro Bessho, 55, as deputy vice minister for foreign policy, replacing Chikao Kawai, 55, who will leave the ministry.
Bessho, director general of the International Cooperation Bureau and formerly secretary to Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, was succeeded by Masato Kitera, 55.
Others include Yasuaki Tanizaki, 56, named director general of the European Affairs Bureau, Toshiro Suzuki, 54, appointed director general of the Middle Eastern and African Affairs Bureau, and Satoru Sato, 55, named director general of the Latin American and Caribbean Affairs Bureau.
The new ambassador to Germany, Shinyo, 58, was ambassador to the U.N. and had served as consul general to Duesseldorf. He is succeeded at the U.N. mission by Okuda, 55, who was director general of the Middle Eastern and African Affairs Bureau and formerly ambassador to Afghanistan.
Komachi, the 62-year-old new envoy to Thailand, has been ambassador to Holland among other positions.