Hiroshi Suzuki (diplomat)
Hiroshi Suzuki | |
|---|---|
鈴木浩 | |
.jpg) Suzuki in 2025 | |
| Ambassador of Japan to the United Kingdom | |
| Assumed office September 2024 | |
| Monarch | Naruhito |
| Prime Minister | Fumio Kishida Shigeru Ishiba |
| Preceded by | Hajime Hayashi |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 5 June 1961 Kyoto Prefecture, Japan |
| Alma mater | Faculty of Law, University of Tokyo |
Hiroshi Suzuki (鈴木浩, Suzuki Hiroshi, born 5 June 1961) is a Japanese diplomat who serves as Ambassador of Japan to the United Kingdom since September 2024. He previously served as Ambassador to India and Bhutan from 2022 to 2024.
Career
[edit]Suzuki was born in Kyoto on 5 June 1961. He graduated from the Faculty of Law at the University of Tokyo in March 1985 and joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs the following month.[1] After joining he was sent to the United States for language training and studied at the Fletcher School at Tufts University.[2]
Suzuki was posted to the Embassy of Japan in Washington, D.C. in 1988 and returned to Tokyo in 1990. His second overseas posting was at the Embassy of Japan in Rome in 1999, followed by a posting in Tehran in 2001. Returning to Japan in 2004, he worked as secretary to Chief Cabinet Secretaries Hiroyuki Hosoda and Shinzo Abe.[2] Suzuki became deputy cabinet public relations secretary when Abe became prime minister in September 2006. Suzuki returned to the Ministry as international press secretary in January 2008.[2]
Suzuki served at the Embassy of Japan in Seoul between 2009 and 2011 and experienced his first posting at the Embassy of Japan in London between 2011 and 2012. In December 2012, he returned to Japan to work as secretary to Shinzo Abe, who had returned to power as Prime Minister. He remained in that position until he was appointed deputy foreign minister (外務審議官, Gaimu Shingikan) for economic affairs in July 2020. He was appointed Ambassador to India and Bhutan in August 2022 and then Ambassador to the United Kingdom in September 2024.[2]
In January 2025, Suzuki was featured by the BBC and ITV when he released a video of himself singing the Welsh National Anthem, 'Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau', in Welsh prior to his visit to Wales.[3][4][5] He was subsequently described as an "unlikely social media star" in The Daily Telegraph after the video, as well as many others, went viral on social media platform X.[6] The Telegraph wrote that he was "already on his way to becoming an adopted national treasure" and that "he has captivated Britons with his boundless enthusiasm".[6] They also wrote that "It’s impossible not to be charmed by Suzuki’s wholehearted embrace of Britishness, expressed not in po-faced statements about international partnerships or dutiful appearances at formal events, but in a down-to-earth, affable and humorous way. He is like the Paddington Bear of ambassadors."[6]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "英国大使に鈴木浩氏 外務省". 日本経済新聞 (in Japanese). 2024-09-06. Retrieved 2025-01-08.
- ^ a b c d "略歴" (PDF). Embassy of Japan in the UK. Retrieved 2025-01-07.
- ^ "Japan's new ambassador sings Welsh national anthem". BBC News. 2025-01-07. Retrieved 2025-03-06.
- ^ "Japan's ambassador to the UK learns Welsh National Anthem ahead of a visit to Wales". ITV News. 2025-01-07. Retrieved 2025-03-06.
- ^ Padfield, Will (2025-01-09). "Japanese UK ambassador sings Wales' national anthem in Welsh, delighting crowds". Classic FM. Retrieved 2025-03-06.
- ^ a b c Swain, Marianka (2025-03-06). "How the Japanese ambassador became an unlikely social media star". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2025-03-06.