The Most Famous
DIPLOMATS from Japan
This page contains a list of the greatest Japanese Diplomats. The pantheon dataset contains 90 Diplomats, 4 of which were born in Japan. This makes Japan the birth place of the 5th most number of Diplomats behind France, and United Kingdom.
Top 5
The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Japanese Diplomats of all time. This list of famous Japanese Diplomats is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.
1. Hasekura Tsunenaga (1571 - 1622)
With an HPI of 63.95, Hasekura Tsunenaga is the most famous Japanese Diplomat. His biography has been translated into 41 different languages on wikipedia.
Hasekura Rokuemon Tsunenaga (支倉 六右衛門 常長, 1571–1622) was a kirishitan Japanese samurai and retainer of Date Masamune, the daimyō of Sendai. He was of Japanese imperial descent with ancestral ties to Emperor Kanmu. Other names include Philip Francis Faxicura, Felipe Francisco Faxicura, and Philippus Franciscus Faxecura Rocuyemon in period European sources, as he took a baptismal name upon converting to Catholicism. In the years 1613 through 1620, Hasekura headed the Keichō Embassy (慶長使節), a diplomatic mission to Pope Paul V. He visited New Spain and various other ports-of-call in Europe on the way. On the return trip, Hasekura and his companions re-traced their route across New Spain in 1619, sailing from Acapulco for Manila, and then sailing north to Japan in 1620. Although Hasekura's embassy was cordially received in Spain and Rome, it happened at a time when Japan was moving toward the suppression of Christianity. European monarchs refused the trade agreements Hasekura had been seeking. He returned to Japan in 1620 and died of illness a year later, his embassy seemingly ending with few results in an increasingly isolationist Japan. Japan's next embassy to Europe would not occur until more than 200 years later, following two centuries of isolation, with the "First Japanese Embassy to Europe" in 1862.
2. Chiune Sugihara (1900 - 1986)
With an HPI of 63.83, Chiune Sugihara is the 2nd most famous Japanese Diplomat. His biography has been translated into 46 different languages.
Chiune Sugihara (杉原 千畝, Sugihara Chiune, 1 January 1900 – 31 July 1986) was a Japanese diplomat who served as vice-consul for the Japanese Empire in Kaunas, Lithuania. During the Second World War, Sugihara helped thousands of Jews flee Europe by issuing transit visas to them so that they could travel through Japanese territory, risking his career and the lives of his family. The fleeing Jews were refugees from German-occupied Western Poland and Soviet-occupied Eastern Poland, as well as residents of Lithuania. In 1985, the State of Israel honored Sugihara as one of the Righteous Among the Nations for his actions. He is the only Japanese national to have been so honored. In Lithuania, 2020 was "The Year of Chiune Sugihara". Today, the estimated number of descendants of those who received "Sugihara visas" ranges between 40,000 and 100,000.
3. Yukiya Amano (1947 - 2019)
With an HPI of 58.67, Yukiya Amano is the 3rd most famous Japanese Diplomat. His biography has been translated into 36 different languages.
Yukiya Amano (Japanese: 天野 之弥, Hepburn: Amano Yukiya, 9 May 1947 – 18 July 2019) was a Japanese diplomat, who served as the Director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) from 1 December 2009 until his death on 18 July 2019. Previously, Amano served as an international civil servant for the United Nations and its subdivisions.
4. Saburō Kurusu (1886 - 1954)
With an HPI of 52.68, Saburō Kurusu is the 4th most famous Japanese Diplomat. His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.
Saburō Kurusu (来栖 三郎, Kurusu Saburō, March 6, 1886 – April 7, 1954) was a Japanese career diplomat. He is remembered now as an envoy who tried to negotiate peace and understanding with the United States while the Japanese government under Emperor Shōwa was secretly preparing the attack on Pearl Harbor. As Imperial Japan's ambassador to Germany from 1939 to November 1941, he signed the Tripartite Pact along with the foreign ministers of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy on September 27, 1940.
5. Yasushi Akashi (b. 1931)
With an HPI of 48.32, Yasushi Akashi is the 5th most famous Japanese Diplomat. His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.
Yasushi Akashi (明石 康 Akashi Yasushi, born January 19, 1931) is a Japanese senior diplomat and United Nations administrator.
People
Pantheon has 5 people classified as Japanese diplomats born between 1571 and 1947. Of these 5, 1 (20.00%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Japanese diplomats include Yasushi Akashi. The most famous deceased Japanese diplomats include Hasekura Tsunenaga, Chiune Sugihara, and Yukiya Amano. As of April 2024, 1 new Japanese diplomats have been added to Pantheon including Saburō Kurusu.
Living Japanese Diplomats
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Hasekura Tsunenaga
1571 - 1622
HPI: 63.95
Chiune Sugihara
1900 - 1986
HPI: 63.83
Yukiya Amano
1947 - 2019
HPI: 58.67
Saburō Kurusu
1886 - 1954
HPI: 52.68
Newly Added Japanese Diplomats (2024)
Go to all RankingsOverlapping Lives
Which Diplomats were alive at the same time? This visualization shows the lifespans of the 3 most globally memorable Diplomats since 1700.
