The government Friday named a new ambassador to Ireland and the new head of its mission to NATO.
Mitsuru Kitano, 61, will become the new envoy to Ireland after a five-year stint as head of the Permanent Mission of Japan to the International Organizations in Vienna. He was previously stationed at Japanese embassies in Vietnam and the United States.
Makita Shimokawa, who was appointed Japanese ambassador to Belgium last month, will double as head of Japan's mission to NATO in Brussels. The 58-year-old previously served at the Japanese Embassy in Indonesia and in the Foreign Ministry's Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau.