Ichiro Fujisaki

Ichiro Fujisaki’s American connections began with a year at junior high school in Seattle and later study at Brown and Stanford. His diplomatic assignments included Jakarta, the OECD in Paris, and London. He served as political minister in Washington from 1995 to 1999, then held senior Asian and North American affairs posts in Tokyo. As deputy foreign minister he acted as the prime minister’s representative in G8 summit preparations; in Geneva he represented Japan at the UN and WTO and chaired the UN refugee agency’s executive committee. ^{1, 2}

Fujisaki returned to Washington as ambassador in 2008. The earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear crisis of March 2011 made explaining rapidly changing conditions in Japan a central part of his work. Appearing on CNN on March 11, he described emergency mobilization and evacuation measures, distinguished confirmed information from speculation about the reactors, and thanked American officials, organizations, and citizens for their offers of help. ^{2, 3}

He also maintained a career in teaching and international policy discussion. He had been a research associate at the International Institute for Strategic Studies and lectured at Sophia University before his ambassadorship. After his Washington service ended in 2012, he returned to university related work, including a role overseeing international strategy at Sophia. ^{1, 2}