Embassy of the United States in Tokyo
Encyclopedia
Osaka
is a city in the Kansai region of Japan's main island of Honshu, a designated city under the Local Autonomy Law, the capital city of Osaka Prefecture and also the biggest part of Keihanshin area, which is represented by three major cities of Japan, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe...
, Nagoya, Sapporo, Fukuoka
Fukuoka, Fukuoka
is the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture and is situated on the northern shore of the island of Kyushu in Japan.Voted number 14 in a 2010 poll of the World's Most Livable Cities, Fukuoka is praised for its green spaces in a metropolitan setting. It is the most populous city in Kyushu, followed by...
, and Naha
Naha, Okinawa
is the capital city of the Japanese prefecture of Okinawa.Naha is a coastal city located on the East China Sea coast of the southern part of Okinawa Island, the largest of the Ryukyu Islands...
, the embassy provides assistance to American citizens and issues visas
Visa (document)
A visa is a document showing that a person is authorized to enter the territory for which it was issued, subject to permission of an immigration official at the time of actual entry. The authorization may be a document, but more commonly it is a stamp endorsed in the applicant's passport...
to foreign nationals
Nationality
Nationality is membership of a nation or sovereign state, usually determined by their citizenship, but sometimes by ethnicity or place of residence, or based on their sense of national identity....
(Japanese and legal residents in Japan) who wish to visit or immigrate to the United States.
The current U.S. Ambassador to Japan is John V. Roos, the former CEO of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati
Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati
Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati is a law firm in the United States that specializes in business, securities, and intellectual property law. The firm's Chairman, Larry Sonsini, is well known as an attorney and advisor to technology companies....
and one of Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
's top fundraisers during his presidential campaign. He presented his credentials
Letter of Credence
A letter of credence is a formal letter usually sent by one head of state to another that formally grants diplomatic accreditation to a named individual to be their ambassador in the country of the head of state receiving the letter...
to the Emperor of Japan
Emperor of Japan
The Emperor of Japan is, according to the 1947 Constitution of Japan, "the symbol of the state and of the unity of the people." He is a ceremonial figurehead under a form of constitutional monarchy and is head of the Japanese Imperial Family with functions as head of state. He is also the highest...
on August 20, 2009.
James P. Zumwalt
James P. Zumwalt
James P. Zumwalt is a diplomat of the United States with expertise in trade, economy and East Asia, now the Deputy Chief of Mission of US Embassy in Japan...
serves as the Deputy Chief of Mission of US Embassy in Japan. He had been the Chargés d’affaires ad interim during the absence of the Ambassador from January 15, 2009 till August 20, 2009.
The current embassy building was designed by Norma Merrick Sklarek
Norma Merrick Sklarek
Norma Merrick Sklarek is an African American architect who earned B. Arch. from Barnard College . Born in Harlem, New York to Trinidadian parents, she was the first black woman to be licensed as an architect in the United States with certification in the state of New York in 1954 and then in the...
and completed in 1976.
Location
Akasaka, Tokyo
is a residential and commercial district of Minato, Tokyo, located west of the government center in Nagatachō and north of the Roppongi nightlife district....
neighborhood of Minato
Minato, Tokyo
is one of the 23 special wards of Tokyo, Japan. As of 1 March 2008, it had an official population of 217,335 and a population density of 10,865 persons per km². The total area is 20.34 km².Minato hosts 49 embassies...
, Tokyo, steps away from the Nagatachō district, home of the Japanese legislature
Diet of Japan
The is Japan's bicameral legislature. It is composed of a lower house, called the House of Representatives, and an upper house, called the House of Councillors. Both houses of the Diet are directly elected under a parallel voting system. In addition to passing laws, the Diet is formally...
and the Prime Minister's residence
Kantei
The is the principal workplace of the Prime Minister of Japan.- About :Located at 2-3-1 Nagata-chō, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-8968, it is diagonally adjacent to the National Diet Building. The new residence went into service in April 2002 and replaced the former residence, built in 1929. The former...
. The address is 1-10-5, Akasaka, Minato-ku Post Code: 107-8420. It is easily accessible via the Tokyo Metro Ginza
Tokyo Metro Ginza Line
The is a subway line located in Tokyo, Japan. It is part of the of Tokyo Metro network. The official name is . It is 14.3 km long and serves the wards of Shibuya, Minato, Chūō, Chiyoda, and Taitō....
or Namboku Line
Tokyo Metro Namboku Line
The is a subway line owned and operated by Tokyo Metro in Tokyo, Japan. Its name literally means South-North Line. The line runs between Meguro in Shinagawa and Akabane-Iwabuchi in Kita...
s Tameike-Sannō Station
Tameike-Sanno Station
is a subway station in the Tokyo Metro network. It is located in the wards of Chiyoda and Minato .-History:The station opened on September 30, 1997 as the southern terminus of the Namboku Line...
and conveniently located to the Hotel Okura.
Previous US missions in Japan
Legation
A legation was the term used in diplomacy to denote a diplomatic representative office lower than an embassy. Where an embassy was headed by an Ambassador, a legation was headed by a Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary....
in Tokyo in 1859 under Townsend Harris
Townsend Harris
Townsend Harris was a successful New York City merchant and minor politician, and the first United States Consul General to Japan...
. This legation was located at Zenpukuji, a Buddhist temple in the Motoazabu neighborhood of southern Tokyo.
In 1875, the legation was moved to a site on the Sumida River
Sumida River
The is a river which flows through Tokyo, Japan. It branches from the Arakawa River at Iwabuchi and flows into Tokyo Bay. Its tributaries include the Kanda and Shakujii rivers....
near Tsukiji
Tsukiji
Tsukiji is a district of Chūō, Tokyo, Japan, the site of the Tsukiji fish market. Literally meaning "reclaimed land," it lies near the Sumida River on land reclaimed from Tokyo Bay in the 18th century, during the Edo period....
, in an area slated as a district for foreigners outside the employ of the Japanese government; this site is now occupied by the St. Luke's Garden complex.
The legation moved to the current embassy site in 1890.
In January 1906, following Japan's victory in the Russo-Japanese War
Russo-Japanese War
The Russo-Japanese War was "the first great war of the 20th century." It grew out of rival imperial ambitions of the Russian Empire and Japanese Empire over Manchuria and Korea...
, Japan and the U.S. mutually elevated their legates to the rank of ambassador
Ambassador
An ambassador is the highest ranking diplomat who represents a nation and is usually accredited to a foreign sovereign or government, or to an international organization....
. Several European powers did so at the same time, indicating a perception of equality between Japan and the major Western powers.
World War II
The US Embassy was closed shortly following the Pearl Harbor attack on December 8, 1941. Its American employees (including military attaches) were interned on the embassy grounds until June 1942, when they were sent by ship to Portuguese East AfricaPortuguese East Africa
Mozambique or Portuguese East Africa was the common name by which the Portuguese Empire's territorial expansion in East Africa was known across different periods of time...
and handed over for repatriation.
The embassy remained closed during the Allied occupation
Occupied Japan
At the end of World War II, Japan was occupied by the Allied Powers, led by the United States with contributions also from Australia, India, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. This foreign presence marked the first time in its history that the island nation had been occupied by a foreign power...
, as the US was the occupying power in Japan. It reopened on April 28, 1952, following restoration of diplomatic relations under the Treaty of San Francisco
Treaty of San Francisco
The Treaty of Peace with Japan , between Japan and part of the Allied Powers, was officially signed by 48 nations on September 8, 1951, at the War Memorial Opera House in San Francisco, California...
.
Rent payment issue
The land on which the embassy sits is about 13,000 m² (3.21 acres), and is leased from the Japanese government. In 2007, the Yomiuri Shinbun reported that the US government has made no payments for the embassy's premises since 1998. Foreign minister Taro AsoTaro Aso
was the 92nd Prime Minister of Japan serving from September 2008 to September 2009, and was defeated in the August 2009 election.He has served in the House of Representatives since 1979. He was Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2005 to 2007, and was Secretary-General of the LDP briefly in 2007 and...
said that the average rent was only 2,500,000 yen (less than USD22,000; 16¢ per square foot) per year from 1993 to 1997. He also said this is clearly unfair behavior and the Foreign Ministry has initiated an investigation.
External links
- tokyo.usembassy.gov United States Embassy in Tokyo, Japan