Kōichirō Asakai ( ja, 朝海浩一郎; 1906–1995) was a Japanese politician who served as ambassador to the United States and ambassador to the Philippines Asakai studied banking and graduated from

Hitotsubashi University is a national university located in Tokyo, Japan. It has campuses in Kunitachi, Kodaira, and Chiyoda. One of the top 9 Designated National University in Japan, Hitotsubashi is a relatively small institution specialized solely in social science ...

in 1929, before joining the

Foreign Ministry In many countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the government department responsible for the state's diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral relations affairs as well as for providing support for a country's citizens who are abroad. The entit ...

. He was taught English by Edward Gauntlett, an English language teacher from Wales. From 1929 until 1931, he studied law at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

. He became an

attaché In diplomacy, an attaché is a person who is assigned ("to be attached") to the diplomatic or administrative staff of a higher placed person or another service or agency. Although a loanword from French, in English the word is not modified accord ...

in the Japanese mission in London, and was posted to

Nanjing Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...

before returning to the Foreign Ministry. He was bureau chief of the Central Liaison Office from March 1946. During this time, he attended meetings of the

Allied Council for Japan Japan was occupied and administered by the victorious Allies of World War II from the 1945 surrender of the Empire of Japan at the end of the war until the Treaty of San Francisco took effect in 1952. The occupation, led by the United States wi ...

as an "observer" and the sole diplomat. In August 1951, he was appointed the first head of the Japanese Government Overseas Agency in London. He was assisted in his work by the Japan Society of London, which had been set up two years prior. In 1956, Asakai was appointed the first post-war Japanese ambassador to the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. In June 1957, he was appointed as the Japanese ambassador to the United States. He left the position in the winter of 1963, and was succeeded by Ryūji Takeuchi.

Personal life

In 1936, he married Takako Debuchi the daughter of

Katsuji Debuchi was a Japanese diplomat who served as ambassador to the United States. Diplomatic career Debuchi served as a diplomat in China, where he was head of the Japanese Foreign Office division which dealt with Chinese affairs. He later served as vice ...

, a former ambassador to the United States. They had three sons and a daughter Akiko Asakai.

References

{{Authority control 1906 births 1995 deaths Ambassadors of Japan to the United States Ambassadors of Japan to the Philippines Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Hitotsubashi University alumni