is a Japanese diplomat and academic who currently serves as the National Security Advisor to the

Prime Minister of Japan The prime minister of Japan (Japanese: 内閣総理大臣, Hepburn: ''Naikaku Sōri-Daijin'') is the head of government of Japan. The prime minister chairs the Cabinet of Japan and has the ability to select and dismiss its Ministers of Stat ...

. He is the first head of the

National Security Council A national security council (NSC) is usually an executive branch governmental body responsible for coordinating policy on national security issues and advising chief executives on matters related to national security. An NSC is often headed by a na ...

founded in December 2013.

History

Yachi was born in

Kanazawa City is the capital city of Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 466,029 in 203,271 households, and a population density of 990 persons per km2. The total area of the city was . Overview Cityscape File:もてな� ...

and was raised in

Toyama Toyama may refer to: Places and organizations * Toyama Prefecture, a prefecture of Japan located in the Hokuriku region on the main Honshu island * Toyama, Toyama, the capital city of Toyama Prefecture * Toyama Station, the main station of Toyama, ...

. Yachi received his master's degree at the

University of Tokyo , abbreviated as or UTokyo, is a public research university located in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1877, the university was the first Imperial University and is currently a Top Type university of the Top Global University Project by ...

Graduate School for Law and Politics in 1969. He entered the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs 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 ...

at that time, retiring in 2008. His service in the Foreign Ministry included work in the Asian Affairs Bureau, the Treaties Bureau, the North American Affairs Bureau, and the Japanese delegations 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 ...

, the

European Community The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organization created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisbo ...

, and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. He served as Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2005 to 2008. Yachi was a foreign policy advisor to

Shinzo Abe Shinzo Abe ( ; ja, 安倍晋三, Hepburn romanization, Hepburn: , ; 21 September 1954 – 8 July 2022) was a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan and President of the Liberal Democratic Party (Japan), President of the Lib ...

in Abe's 2006–2007 stint as Prime Minister. When Abe became Prime Minister again in late 2012, he selected Yachi to be a special advisor to his cabinet. He was appointed the first head of the NSC upon its creation in December 2013.

Career

Yachi was a self-described outlier in the risk-averse Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He was influenced by Wakaizumi Kei, an international politics thinker who acted as Prime Minister Eisaku Sato's emissary for the negotiation of secret protocols allowing the US to introduce or station nuclear weapons in Japanese territory. According to an author, Yachi has engaged extensively in secret diplomacy under Abe. Yachi has taught at

Waseda University , abbreviated as , is a private university, private research university in Shinjuku, Tokyo. Founded in 1882 as the ''Tōkyō Senmon Gakkō'' by Ōkuma Shigenobu, the school was formally renamed Waseda University in 1902. The university has numerou ...

Sophia University Sophia University (Japanese: 上智大学, ''Jōchi Daigaku''; Latin: ''Universitas Sedis Sapientiae'') is a private research university in Japan. Sophia is one of the three ''Sōkeijōchi'' (早慶上智) private universities, a group of the to ...

Seinan Gakuin University is a Baptist Christian university in Fukuoka, Japan. History It was founded in 1916 as an academy for boys by Rev. C. K. Dozier, a Baptist missionary from the United States. Naoko Sakamoto５月１５日は西南学院大学の創立記念日 ...

Keio University , mottoeng = The pen is mightier than the sword , type = Private research coeducational higher education institution , established = 1858 , founder = Yukichi Fukuzawa , endowmen ...

, and

Chuo University , commonly referred to as or , is a private flagship research university in Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1885 as Igirisu Hōritsu Gakkō (the English Law School), Chuo is one of the oldest and most prestigious institutions in the country. The univer ...

. From June 2012 to December 2013, he was a

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''Di ...

for the

Fujitsu is a Japanese multinational information and communications technology equipment and services corporation, established in 1935 and headquartered in Tokyo. Fujitsu is the world's sixth-largest IT services provider by annual revenue, and the la ...

corporation. One of Yachi's first tasks as National Security Advisor was to strengthen the new NSC's relations with the American government. He met with his American counterpart,

Susan Rice Susan Elizabeth Rice (born November 17, 1964) is an American diplomat, policy advisor, and public official serving as Director of the United States Domestic Policy Council since 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, Rice served as the 27th ...

, as well as cabinet secretaries

Chuck Hagel Charles Timothy Hagel ( born October 4, 1946)John Kerry John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician and diplomat who currently serves as the first United States special presidential envoy for climate. A member of the Forbes family and the Democratic Party (Unite ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yachi, Shotaro Living people 1944 births People from Kanazawa, Ishikawa University of Tokyo alumni Japanese diplomats Seinan Gakuin University faculty Consuls General of Japan in Los Angeles