Fumihiko Tōgō

Fumihiko Tōgō entered the Foreign Ministry in 1939 after graduating in law from Tokyo Imperial University. His study at Harvard ended with the Pacific War, and he returned to Japan aboard an exchange ship. Originally named Honjō, he became the son-in-law of former foreign minister Shigenori Tōgō. He later worked on the 1960 revision of the security treaty with the United States and the negotiations over Okinawa's return. ¹

Tōgō brought this experience to the Washington embassy during the Ford and Carter administrations. He participated in the March 22, 1977, meeting between President Jimmy Carter and Prime Minister Takeo Fukuda, when Carter urged restraint in nuclear fuel reprocessing and Japan sought to protect its investment in the Tokai plant. The disagreement linked Japan's energy needs to the new administration's effort to prevent nuclear proliferation. ²

He also managed misunderstandings that threatened economic talks. In November 1977, after Japanese press accounts portrayed Vice President Walter Mondale as sharply criticizing Fukuda, Tōgō wrote directly to Mondale. He explained that the embassy had accurately reported Mondale's meeting with the opposition Kōmeitō delegation, had sent an additional clarification to Fukuda, and had received assurances that the negotiations in Tokyo were proceeding. ³

After retirement, Tōgō advised the Foreign Ministry and Nippon Steel. His 1982 book Thirty Years of Japan–U.S. Diplomacy examined the security treaty, Okinawa, and subsequent relations. He died in 1985. ¹