Ambassador
in Town

Rahm Emanuel was confirmed in a bipartisan vote as the 31st United States Ambassador to Japan on December 18, 2021.

Previously, Ambassador Emanuel was the 55th Mayor of the City of Chicago, a position he held until May 2019. During that time, he made the critical choices necessary to secure Chicago’s future as a global capital. Prior to becoming Mayor, from November 2008 until October 2010, Ambassador Emanuel served as President Barack Obama’s Chief of Staff. From 1993 to 1998, Ambassador Emanuel was a key member of President Bill Clinton’s administration, rising to serve as Senior Advisor to the President for Policy and Politics.

Ambassador Emanuel graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1981 and received a Master’s Degree in Speech and Communication from Northwestern University in 1985.

Scholar Experience
September 2011 Graduated from Waseda University, School of International Liberal Arts

Work Experience
April 2012 – August 2015 Kikkoman Corporation, Department of Metropolitan Sales and Marketing, Department of Foreign Sales and Marketing
September 2015 – September 2018 Sales and Marketing Advisor in multiple Georgian and Japanese companies
December 2017 – September 2018 LLC Delivery, Founder
October 2018 – July 2019 Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia, Counselor
August 2019 – Embassy of Georgia to Japan, Chargé d’affaires
November 2021 – Embassy of Georgia to Japan, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Georgia to Japan

The Ambassador of Romania, Ovidiu Dranga, presented his Credentials to His Majesty the Emperor of Japan on 30 September 2021.

Before assuming his post in Tokyo, Ovidiu Dranga was the Ambassador of Romania to the Republic of Poland, from June 2013 to May 2021. Prior to his posting in Warsaw, he served as the spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Romania, as well as State Secretary for Parliament Relations and Public Diplomacy and, from January to June 2013, as State Secretary for Global Affairs.

Between 2008 – 2012, Ovidiu Dranga was the Ambassador of Romania to the Kingdom of Belgium.

Ovidiu Dranga joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1991 and currently holds the diplomatic rank of Ambassador. After working for a year as journalist for ”Lumea” weekly magazine, he held various positions in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Romania and the diplomatic missions of Romania, such as: Deputy Head of Mission, Mission of Romania to NATO and WEU (Brussels); Director of NATO and Strategic Affairs Division (MFA); Policy Director (MFA) etc.

Ovidiu Dranga also worked in the Ministry of Defense, where he held, among other positions, a mandate as Deputy State Secretary for Defense Policy and Euro-Atlantic Integration (2001 – 2003).

H.E. Sibi George is Ambassador of India to Japan. Earlier he served as Ambassador to Switzerland, The Holy See and The Principality of Liechtenstein and Ambassador of India to Kuwait. Ambassador George joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1993. He began his diplomatic career in Cairo where he served in the Mission as Political Officer. Subsequently he moved to Indian Embassy in Doha where he handled Consular, Community, Information and Media affairs as First Secretary. Later he served as Political Counsellor in Indian High Commission in Islamabad and as Political Counsellor and Commercial Counsellor at Indian Embassy in Washington DC. He also served as Deputy Chief of Mission in Indian Missions in Tehran and Riyadh. At Headquarters of Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi, he served in East Asia Division and also as coordinator of India-Africa Forum Summit. He later headed Administration, Establishment and Welfare Divisions in the Ministry of External Affairs. In 2014, Ministry of External Affairs conferred on him S.K. Singh Award for Excellence in Indian Foreign Service.

March 2021- Tokyo, Ambassador
2016 to 2020 FCO, Director for Consular Services, Consular Directorate
2012 to 2016 Tokyo, Minister and Deputy Head of Mission
2003 to 2006 Warsaw, Director of Trade & Investment and Consul General
1998 to 2002 The Hague, Head of Political and EU Section
1990 to 1993 Tokyo, Second Secretary – Political
1986 Joined FCO

Ian McKay, a native of Penticton British Columbia, studied political science and Asian studies at the University of British Columbia, and holds a Master’s of Business Administration Degree from Queen’s University, as well as an ICD.D designation from the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto.

Mr. McKay began his career in international financial markets with Euro Brokers Investment Inc in New York in 1987, later becoming Managing Director of Euro Brokers Tokyo in 1994, and joint Managing Director of Euro Brokers London in 1998. Subsequently, Mr. McKay was Director of Canadian Energy Markets for InterCapital Brokers NY between 2006 and 2009.

From 2001 to 2005, Mr. McKay served as a senior policy advisor to three federal cabinet ministers in the Government of Canada and from 2010 to 2013 as the National Director for the Liberal Party of Canada. Following his time in Ottawa, McKay served as the Chief Executive Officer of the Vancouver Economic Commission, the City of Vancouver’s economic development agency from 2013 until 2018.

In January 2018, Mr. McKay was named as the Prime Minister’s special envoy to Japan, to assist with Canada’s final negotiations of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership. In March 2018, he was appointed as the founding Chief Executive Officer of Invest in Canada, responsible for promoting Canada as a premier global investment destination.

Mr. McKay was appointed as Ambassador of Canada to Japan on April 15, 2021 and presented his credentials to His Majesty the Emperor of Japan on August 25, 2021. He was named as Canada’s Special Envoy for the Indo-Pacific on April 19, 2023.

H.E. Mr. Cheol-Hee PARK has served as Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Japan since August 2024. A leading expert in South Korea-Japan relations, Mr. Park has played a key role in shaping President Yoon Suk-Yeol’s diplomatic policies. Prior to his appointment, Mr. Park served as Chancellor of the Korea National Diplomatic Academy (KNDA). He has been a professor at Seoul National University’s Graduate School of International Studies (GSIS) since 2004 and has held various leadership roles including Director of the Institute for Japanese Studies, Dean of GSIS, and Director of the Institute of International Affairs. Beyond academia, Mr. Park has served as a board member for several think tanks, including the Asan Institute for Policy Studies, the East Asia Foundation, and the Maureen & Mike Mansfield Foundation. He was also a non-resident senior research fellow at the Atlantic Council and a long-time columnist for Tokyo Shimbun and other major Korean publications. Mr. Park earned his Ph.D. in Political Science from Columbia University after completing his B.A. and M.A. at Seoul National University. He has also held visiting professorships at Columbia University, the University of Tokyo, Keio University, and Nankai University.

Born in 1975, Pawel Milewski received his M.A. in Chinese Studies from Adam Mickiewicz University in 1999, studied at Capital Normal University (China) in 1996, followed by Xiamen University (China) in 1997. From 2003 to 2009, he worked at the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in the People’s Republic of China as Second Secretary, First Secretary and Counsellor. In 2013, he was appointed Ambassador of the Republic of Poland to Australia. During this period, he also served as Ambassador of the Republic of Poland to Papua New Guinea. In 2017, he was appointed Director General of the Bureau for Asia and the Pacific, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland.
He arrived in Japan in October 2019 as Ambassador of the Republic of Poland to Japan. Languages spoken: Polish, English, Chinese