SECRETARY-GENERAL APPOINTS AKIO NOMURA DIRECTOR OF UN INFORMATION CENTRE IN TOKYO

Biographical Note

SECRETARY-GENERAL APPOINTS AKIO NOMURA DIRECTOR OF UN INFORMATION CENTRE IN TOKYO

Secretary-General Kofi Annan has appointed Akio Nomura as the Director of the United Nations Information Centre in Tokyo.  He will take up his duties on

17 March 2003.

Mr. Nomura is a national of Japan with a distinguished career in print journalism.  Since 1967 he has been associated with the Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun, most recently as the Director of its Research Centre.  In this capacity, he was involved in the overall management of the Centre, led research in journalism, conducted public opinion polls and gave lectures in journalism for university students.  During his long career with Asahi Shimbun, he held a wide range of positions, both in Japan and in the United States.  From 1968 to 1978, he was first a reporter at the Sapporo bureau of Asahi and then a political reporter covering mainly domestic politics.  He took up a position as Washington correspondent in 1979, covering such issues as Japan-United States relations, United States foreign policy and the 1980 presidential elections.

In 1982, Mr. Nomura returned to Japan and worked as a political reporter, deputy political editor and foreign news editor until 1991 when he became Chief of Asahi Shimbun’s Washington bureau.  From 1994 to 1998, he was Deputy Chief of the newspaper’s editorial board and covered issues such as Japanese foreign policy, United States-Japan relations and United Nations affairs.

Mr. Nomura was educated in Tokyo and has a degree in international relations.

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