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Kōichirō Asakai (Japanese: 朝海浩一郎; 1906–1995) was a Japanese politician who served as ambassador to the United States and ambassador to the Philippines.

Asakai studied banking and graduated from Hitotsubashi University in 1929, before joining the Foreign Ministry. He was taught English by Edward Gauntlett, an English language teacher from Wales. From 1929 until 1931, he studied law at the University of Edinburgh. He became an attaché in the Japanese mission in London, and was posted to Nanjing before returning to the Foreign Ministry.

He was bureau chief of the Central Liaison Office from March 1946. During this time, he attended meetings of the Allied Council for Japan as an "observer" and the sole diplomat. In August 1951, he was appointed the first head of the Japanese Government Overseas Agency in London. He was assisted in his work by the Japan Society of London, which had been set up two years prior.

In 1956, Asakai was appointed the first post-war Japanese ambassador to the Philippines.

In June 1957, he was appointed as the Japanese ambassador to the United States. He left the position in the winter of 1963, and was succeeded by Ryūji Takeuchi.

Personal life

In 1936, he married Takako Debuchi the daughter of Katsuji Debuchi, a former ambassador to the United States. They had three sons and a daughter Akiko Asakai.

References

1. ^ Nish, Ian, ed. (10 May 2007). Japanese envoys in Britain, 1862-1964 : a century of diplomatic exchange. Global Oriental. ISBN 978-19-05-24632-8.
2. Eldridge, Robert D. (2013). The Origins of the Bilateral Okinawa Problem: Okinawa in Postwar US-Japan Relations, 1945-1952. Routledge. p. 155. ISBN 978-1-136-71211-1. Retrieved 4 December 2019.
3. ^ ""Japan Resents A-Tests" Asakai". The Huntsville Times. July 20, 1962. p. 5. Retrieved December 30, 2020.
4. "Foreign Relations of the United States, 1955–1957, Japan, Volume XXIII, Part 1 - Office of the Historian". history.state.gov. Retrieved 4 December 2019.
5. "Foreign Relations of the United States, 1961–1963, Volume XXII, Northeast Asia - Office of the Historian". history.state.gov. Retrieved 4 December 2019.
6. "Foreign Relations of the United States, 1961–1963, Volume XXII, Northeast Asia - Office of the Historian - 375. Memorandum of Conversation". history.state.gov. Retrieved 4 December 2019.
7. "出淵勝次", Misplaced Pages (in Japanese), 2023-01-15, retrieved 2023-02-14
8. "1960 Press Photo Ambassador Koichiro Asakai, daughter light Japanese lantern, DC". eBay. Retrieved 2023-02-14. Akiko Asakai, daughter of Japanese Ambassador Koichiro Asakai...

• 1906 births
• 1995 deaths
• Ambassadors of Japan to the United States
• Ambassadors of Japan to the Philippines
• Alumni of the University of Edinburgh
• Hitotsubashi University alumni