Biography of Ambassador of Japan, KATAYAMA Yoshihiro
2020/5/29
As a career diplomat, Ambassador Katayama covered various issues at Tokyo headquarters, including national security and economic relations with North America. His overseas service began in Romania decades ago and was followed by missions to other countries, namely, Canada, the United States (New York), Ukraine, and Kenya.
While working on international environmental affairs in 2013-2014, he led the Japanese delegations to numerous conferences of the parties, such as the Extended Basel, Rotterdam, and Stockholm Conventions (Apr. 2013), the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (Sep. 2013), the Montreal Protocol on Ozone Layers (Oct. 2013), and was one of the chief negotiators at the COP19 of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change . He also led the Japanese delegation to the first three meetings of the open ended working group on Sustainable Development Goals in 2013.
As the director of maritime security division from March 2014 to July 2016, he often acted as one of the co-chairs of the Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia, ASEAN Regional Forum and other maritime related conferences.
He then served in Kenya as Deputy Ambassador, where he was also in charge of bilateral relations with Seychelles, Somalia and Eritrea, as the Japanese government did not have embassy premises in these countries at the time. He greatly enjoyed working with the officers of various international organizations, too, Nairobi being an important African centre of multilateral diplomacy.
After completing his service in Kenya in December 2019, he was named Ambassador to the Republic of Moldova in January 2020 and arrived in Chisinau in mid-February.
Languages: fluent in English and Romanian languages, also knows basic Russian and very basic Swahili
Family: married with four children and three grandchildren
While working on international environmental affairs in 2013-2014, he led the Japanese delegations to numerous conferences of the parties, such as the Extended Basel, Rotterdam, and Stockholm Conventions (Apr. 2013), the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (Sep. 2013), the Montreal Protocol on Ozone Layers (Oct. 2013), and was one of the chief negotiators at the COP19 of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change . He also led the Japanese delegation to the first three meetings of the open ended working group on Sustainable Development Goals in 2013.
As the director of maritime security division from March 2014 to July 2016, he often acted as one of the co-chairs of the Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia, ASEAN Regional Forum and other maritime related conferences.
He then served in Kenya as Deputy Ambassador, where he was also in charge of bilateral relations with Seychelles, Somalia and Eritrea, as the Japanese government did not have embassy premises in these countries at the time. He greatly enjoyed working with the officers of various international organizations, too, Nairobi being an important African centre of multilateral diplomacy.
After completing his service in Kenya in December 2019, he was named Ambassador to the Republic of Moldova in January 2020 and arrived in Chisinau in mid-February.
Languages: fluent in English and Romanian languages, also knows basic Russian and very basic Swahili
Family: married with four children and three grandchildren