As deputy Cabinet secretary for public affairs, Noriyuki Shikata instantly realized his workload would skyrocket when the Great East Japan Earthquake struck, but admits being taken aback by the flood of requests that started pouring in from overseas media.
As the only member of the prime minister's office able to give quick on-the-spot interviews in fluent English, Shikata became the go-to official for foreign news bureaus seeking information on the March 2011 disasters, enabling reporters to avoid the maze of bureaucracy.
"One crucial lesson our society needs to learn (from the Tohoku calamity) is that its leading members need to develop better global communication skills," Shikata told The Japan Times recently before his September dispatch to London, where he will be a political minister at the Japanese Embassy.