List of ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Japan

The ambassador of the United Kingdom to Japan is the United Kingdom's foremost diplomatic representative in Japan, and is the head of the UK's diplomatic mission there.

British Ambassador to Japan
Royal arms of His Majesty's Government
Incumbent Julia Longbottom since March 2021
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office British Embassy, Tokyo
Style	Her Excellency
Reports to	Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs
Appointer	King Charles III
Term length	At His Majesty's pleasure
Inaugural holder	Sir Claude MacDonald
Formation	1905
Salary	£115,000-£120,000[1]
Website	British Embassy Tokyo

The following is a chronological list of British heads of mission (ministers and ambassadors) in Japan from 1859. Before 1905, there were no ambassadors exchanged between the two countries, the highest rank being envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary – a rank just below ambassador. Before 1859, there was no treaty and no diplomatic relations, because Japan was isolated from the world by the Tokugawa shogunate's policy of national isolation called sakoku (literally locked country).

List of heads of mission

Envoys extraordinary and ministers plenipotentiary

Head of mission	Tenure  begins	Tenure  ends	British monarch	Japanese emperor
James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin[2]	1858	1858	Queen Victoria	Kōmei
Sir Rutherford Alcock[3]	1859	1865
Sir Harry Parkes[4]	1865	1883		Meiji
Sir Francis Plunkett[5]	1884	1887
Hugh Fraser[6]	1889	1894
Power Henry Le Poer Trench[7]	1894	1895
Sir Ernest Satow[8]	1895	1900
Sir Claude MacDonald[9][10]	1900	1905	Edward VII

Ambassadors

Head of mission	Tenure  begins	Tenure  ends	British monarch	Japanese emperor
Sir Claude MacDonald[10]	1905	1912	Edward VII	Meiji
Sir Conyngham Greene[11]	1912	1919	George V	Taishō
Sir Charles Eliot[12]	1919	1925
Sir John Tilley[13]	1926	1931		Shōwa
Sir Francis Lindley[14]	1931	1934
Sir Robert Clive[citation needed]	1934	1937
Sir Robert Craigie[15]	1937	1941	George VI

No representation (1941–1946, due to World War II)

During World War II, Setsuya Beppu worked in a consulate in Dublin in the Irish Free State, and was responsible for the Japanese citizens in the UK and Ireland.^[16][17]

Political representatives

• Sir Alvary Gascoigne (1946–1951) ^[18]
• Sir Esler Dening (1951–1952)^[19]

Ambassadors

Head of mission	Tenure  begins	Tenure  ends	British monarch	Japanese emperor
Sir Esler Dening[19]	1952	1957	Elizabeth II	Shōwa
Sir Daniel Lascelles[20]	1957	1959
Sir Oscar Morland[21]	1959	1963
Sir Francis Rundall[22]	1963	1967
Sir John Pilcher[23]	1967	1972
Sir Fred Warner	1972	1975
Sir Michael Wilford	1975	1980
Sir Hugh Cortazzi	1980	1984
Sir Sydney Giffard	1984	1986
Sir John Whitehead	1986	1992		Heisei (Akihito)
Sir John Boyd	1992	1996
Sir David Wright	1996	1999
Sir Stephen Gomersall	1999	2004
Sir Graham Fry	2004	2008
Sir David Warren	2008	2012
Tim Hitchens[24]	2012	2016
Paul Madden[25]	2017	2021
Julia Longbottom[26]	2021		Elizabeth II Charles III	Reiwa (Naruhito)

See also

• British Embassy, Tokyo
• Embassy of Japan, London
• Japan–United Kingdom relations
  • Anglo-Japanese Friendship Treaty
  • Anglo-Japanese Treaty of Amity and Commerce
  • Anglo-Japanese Alliance
  • Treaty of San Francisco
• Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
• Foreign relations of the United Kingdom