Biographical Note

New Permanent Representative of Japan Presents Credentials

 

(Based on information provided by the Protocol and Liaison Service)

The new Permanent Representative of Japan to the United Nations, Motohide Yoshikawa, presented his credentials to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today.

Until his latest appointment, Mr. Yoshikawa was Permanent Representative to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in Paris, where he served as Chair of the Executive Committee for two and a half years.  Previously, he was named Japan’s first Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, a position he held from 2009 to 2010.  He was also Ambassador to Spain from 2006 to 2009.

He held various positions at Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, serving as Director-General of the Middle Eastern and African Affairs Bureau from 2004 to 2006, and Deputy Director-General of the Economic Cooperation Bureau from 2002.

From 1997 to 2002, Mr. Yoshikawa was Minister and subsequently Ambassador for Political Affairs at the Japanese Mission to the United Nations in New York, serving as Vice-Chair of the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations.  He also served as Minister at the Japanese Embassy in Thailand from 1995 to 1997, having previously headed the Second International Organisations Division of the Economic Affairs Bureau, and later, the United Nations Policy Division of the Foreign Policy Bureau in charge of the General Assembly and the Security Council.

Prior to that, he was Counsellor at the Japanese Delegation to the OECD from 1988 to 1992, and he was appointed First Secretary at the Japanese Embassy in the United Kingdom in 1986.  His long-time diplomatic career, which started in 1974, also included service at the Latin American Bureau, the Personnel Division and the Grant Aid Division of the Economic Cooperation Bureau, as well as a stint at the Japanese Embassy in Argentina.

He holds a degree in social sciences from the International Christian University in Tokyo.

Born in the Japanese city of Nara in 1951, Mr. Yoshikawa is married and has two sons.

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For information media • not an official record