List of ambassadors of Sweden to Japan

The Ambassador of Sweden to Japan (known formally as the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Sweden to Japan) is the official representative of the government of Sweden to the emperor of Japan and the government of Japan.

Ambassador of Sweden to Japan
Lesser coat of arms of the Kingdom of Sweden
Incumbent Viktoria Flodh Li since 1 September 2024
Ministry for Foreign Affairs Swedish Embassy, Tokyo
Style	His or Her Excellency (formal) Mr. or Madam Ambassador (informal)
Reports to	Minister for Foreign Affairs
Residence	1 Chome-10-3-100 Roppongi[a]
Seat	Tokyo, Japan
Appointer	Government of Sweden
Term length	No fixed term
Inaugural holder	Frederik Philip van der Hoeven
Formation	1871
Website	Swedish Embassy, Tokyo

History

Diplomatic relations between Sweden and Japan were established in 1868.^[2] Due to letters patent on 11 November 1870, the care of the Sweden–Norway's interests there was handed over to the Dutch trade representation, which employed consuls and vice-consuls partly in Yokohama and Tokyo (Dutch legation), partly in Nagasaki, as well as in Osaka and Hyōgo. By a decision on 9 October 1900, a career Swedish-Norwegian consulate general was established in Kobe with the whole of Japan as its consular district. Upon reorganization in 1906, the consulate general in Kobe was closed, and its functions were taken over by the Swedish legation in Tokyo.^[3]

By a decision on 28 September 1906, the consulate general in Japan was assigned to King in Council's minister there, Gustaf Wallenberg. Wallenberg served as consul general from the same date and as envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary from the same year.^[3][4]

In the fall of 1957, an agreement was reached between the Swedish and Japanese governments on the mutual elevation of the respective countries' legations to embassies. The diplomatic rank was thereafter changed to ambassador instead of envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary. Sweden's envoy handed over his letter of credence as ambassador in December of the same year.^[5]

List of representatives

Name	Period	Title	Accreditation	Ref
Empire of Japan (1868–1947)
Frederik Philip van der Hoeven	1871–1872	Resident minister
Wilhelm Ferdinand Henrik van Wekherlin	1872–1878	Resident minister
Edmond W.F. Wittewaall van Stoetwegen	1879–1881	Resident minister
Johannes Jakobus van der Plot	1881–1889	Resident minister
Dmitri Louis van Bylandt	1890–1896	Resident minister
Hannibal Casimir Johannes Testa	1896–1900	Resident minister
Hannibal Casimir Johannes Testa	1900–1902	Envoy
Arthur M.D. Swerts de Landas Wyborgh	1902–1905	Envoy
John Loudon	1905–1906	Acting Envoy
Gustaf Wallenberg	1906–1920	Envoy	Also acreddited to Beijing. Also served as consul general from 28 September 1906.	[6][4]
Patrik Reuterswärd	18 February 1912 – 14 June 1912	Chargé d'affaires ad interim		[7]
Patrik Reuterswärd	11 October 1913 – 5 February 1914	Chargé d'affaires ad interim		[7]
David Bergström	7 May 1918 – 1920	Acting Envoy	Also acreddited to Beijing.	[8]
David Bergström	11 June 1920 – 1922	Envoy	Also acreddited to Beijing.	[8]
Oskar Ewerlöf	1922–1928	Envoy	Also acreddited to Beijing.	[9]
Johan Hultman	1928–1936	Envoy	Also acreddited to Beijing (from 1929) and Bangkok (from 1931).	[10]
Widar Bagge	1937 – April 1945	Envoy	Also acreddited to Bangkok.	[11][12]
Erik von Sydow	April 1945 – 15 February 1946	Chargé d'affaires ad interim[b]		[13][12][14]
–	1946–1947	–	Vacant.	[15][16]
Japan (1947–present)
Leif Öhrvall	1948–1951	Diplomatic representative		[17]
Karl-Gustav Lagerfelt	1951–1952	Diplomatic representative		[18]
Karl-Gustav Lagerfelt	1952–1956	Envoy		[19]
Tage Grönwall	9 July 1956 – December 1957	Envoy		[20][5]
Tage Grönwall	December 1957 – 1962	Ambassador	Also acreddited to Seoul (from 1959).	[5][21]
Karl Fredrik Almqvist	1963–1970	Ambassador	Also acreddited to Seoul.	[22]
Gunnar Heckscher	1970–1975	Ambassador	Also acreddited to Seoul.	[23]
Bengt Odevall	1975–1981	Ambassador	Also acreddited to Seoul (1975–1979).	[24]
Gunnar Lonaeus	1981–1986	Ambassador		[25]
Ove Heyman	1986–1991	Ambassador		[26]
Magnus Vahlquist	1992–1997	Ambassador	Also acreddited to Marshall Islands (from 1995) and the Federated States of Micronesia (from 1995).	[27]
Krister Kumlin	1997–2002	Ambassador	Also acreddited to Marshall Islands and the Federated States of Micronesia.	[28]
Mikael Lindström	2002–2006	Ambassador	Also acreddited to Marshall Islands and the Federated States of Micronesia.	[29]
Stefan Noreén	2006–2011	Ambassador	Also acreddited to Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, and Palau (from 2008).	[30]
Lars Vargö	2011–2014	Ambassador
Magnus Robach	2014–2019	Ambassador	Also acreddited to Palau.	[31][32]
Pereric Högberg	1 September 2019 – 2024	Ambassador	Also acreddited to Palau (from February 2022) and the Federated States of Micronesia (from February 2024).	[33][34][35]
Viktoria Li	2024–present	Ambassador		[36]

See also

• Japan–Sweden relations
• Embassy of Sweden, Tokyo

Footnotes

1. The ambassador's residence is at the same location as the chancery.^[1]
2. Held the diplomatic rank of first legation secretary.^[12]