List of ambassadors of Russia to Japan

The Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to Japan is the official representative of the President and the Government of the Russian Federation to the Prime Minister and the Government of Japan.

Ambassador of the Russian Federation to Japan
Emblem of the Russian Foreign Ministry
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Embassy of Russia in Tokyo
StyleHis Excellency
Reports toMinister of Foreign Affairs
SeatTokyo
AppointerPresident of Russia
Term lengthAt the pleasure of the President
WebsiteRussian Embassy in Japan

The ambassador and his staff work at large in the Embassy of Russia in Tokyo.[1] There are consulates general in Osaka, Niigata, and Sapporo, and a consulate in Hakodate.[2][3][4][5] The post of Russian Ambassador to Japan is currently vacant, following the recall of ambassador Mikhail Galuzin [ru] on 25 November 2022.[6]

History of diplomatic relations

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The first official representative of Russia to Japan was Yevfimiy Putyatin in the early 1850s. Putyatin arranged the signing of the Treaty of Shimoda in 1855 which established diplomatic contacts between the two nations, and the Treaty of Tientsin in 1858. Consulates were set up in several Japanese cities, and with the Meiji Restoration in 1868, restrictions on contact with foreign nations were further relaxed.[7] The first consulate was opened in Hakodate in 1858 by Iosif Goshkevich.[8] A consulate in the Imperial capital of Edo, later Tokyo, was first established in 1872 by consul Yevgeny Byutsov [ru], and further developed into the embassy under his successor Karl von Struve.[7] Relations were interrupted with the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War in 1904, but were re-established after the signing of the Treaty of Portsmouth.[7]

After the February Revolution in 1917, contacts were maintained between Japan and the Russian Provisional Government, and the diplomatic mission continued to function, albeit without accreditation, after the October Revolution later that year. The Japanese government established diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union in 1925.[7] The Soviet Union fought the brief Soviet–Japanese War towards the end of the Second World War, and afterwards refused to sign the Treaty of San Francisco, which normalised relations between Japan and the former allied powers. Full diplomatic relations were not resumed until after the Soviet–Japanese Joint Declaration of 1956.[7] Diplomatic relations continued throughout the twentieth century, and since the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, ambassadors have been exchanged between Japan and the Russian Federation.

List of representatives (1871 – present)

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Representatives of the Russian Empire to Japan (1871–1917)

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Name Title Appointment Termination Notes
Yevgeny Byutsov [ru] Chargé d'affaires and Consul General 1 January 1871 15 May 1873
Karl von Struve Chargé d'affaires and Consul General (before 3 December 1874)
Minister-Resident (3 December 1874 – 1 July 1876)
Envoy (from 1 July 1876)
15 May 1873 12 January 1882
Roman Rosen Interim Chargé d'affaires 22 November 1877 12 August 1879
Mikhail Bartolomey Envoy 12 January 1882 30 November 1882
Aleksandr Davydov [ru] Envoy 10 April 1883 20 November 1885
Dmitry Shevich [ru] Envoy 28 January 1886 28 July 1892
Mikhail Khitrovo [ru] Envoy 28 July 1892 30 June 1896
Alexey Shpeyer Interim Chargé d'affaires 25 February 1896 6 November 1897
Roman Rosen Envoy 4 February 1897 18 November 1899
Alexander Izvolsky Envoy 18 November 1899 24 October 1902
Roman Rosen Envoy 1902 28 January 1904
Russo-Japanese War – Diplomatic relations interrupted (1904–1905)
George Bakhmeteff Envoy 1906 1908
Nikolai Malevsky-Malevich [ru] Envoy 1908 1916
Vasily Krupensky [ru] Envoy 1916 3 March 1917

Representatives of the Russian Provisional Government to Japan (March 1917 – unaccredited after October 1917)

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Name Title Appointment Termination Notes
Vasily Krupensky [ru] Ambassador 3 March 1917 1921
Dmitri Abrikosov [ru] Chargé d'affaires 1921 1925

Representatives of the Soviet Union to Japan (1925–1991)

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Name Title Appointment Termination Notes
Viktor Kopp Plenipotentiary Representative 25 February 1925 31 January 1927
Valerian Dovgalevsky Plenipotentiary Representative 5 March 1927 21 October 1927
Alexander Troyanovsky Plenipotentiary Representative 14 November 1927 24 January 1933
Konstantin Yurenev Plenipotentiary Representative 29 January 1933 16 June 1937
Mikhail Slavutsky [ru] Plenipotentiary Representative 27 July 1937 29 September 1939
Konstantin Smetanin Plenipotentiary Representative (until 9 May 1941)
Ambassador (after 9 May 1941)
29 September 1939 28 May 1942
Yakov Malik Ambassador 28 May 1942 9 August 1945
Soviet–Japanese War – Diplomatic relations interrupted (1945–1956)
Ivan Tevosian Ambassador 30 December 1956 30 March 1958
Nikolai Fedorenko Ambassador 15 June 1958 16 July 1962
Vladimir Vinogradov Ambassador 16 July 1962 3 April 1967
Oleg Troyanovsky Ambassador 3 April 1967 17 April 1976
Dmitry Polyansky Ambassador 17 April 1976 11 February 1982
Vladimir Pavlov [ru] Ambassador 11 February 1982 27 February 1985
Peter Abrassimov Ambassador 27 February 1985 13 May 1986
Nikolai Soloviev [ru] Ambassador 13 May 1986 7 August 1990
Lyudwig Chizhov [ru] Ambassador 7 August 1990 25 December 1991

Representatives of the Russian Federation to Japan (1991 – present)

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Name Title Appointment Termination Notes
Lyudwig Chizhov [ru] Ambassador 25 December 1991 6 September 1996
Aleksandr Panov Ambassador 6 September 1996 25 December 2003
Alexander Losyukov Ambassador 2 March 2004 28 December 2006
Mikhail Bely [ru] Ambassador 28 December 2006 20 February 2012
Yevgeny Afanasiev [ru] Ambassador 20 February 2012 29 January 2018
Mikhail Galuzin [ru] Ambassador 29 January 2018 25 November 2022

References

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  1. ^ "The Embassy of the Russian Federation to Japan". Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Russia). Retrieved 22 October 2019.
  2. ^ "Consulate General of Russia in Osaka". Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Russia). Retrieved 22 October 2019.
  3. ^ "Генеральное консульство России в Ниигате" (in Russian). Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Russia). Retrieved 22 October 2019.
  4. ^ "Russian Consulate General in Sapporo, Japan". Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Russia). Retrieved 22 October 2019.
  5. ^ "Russian Consulate in Hakodate, Japan". embassypages.com. Retrieved 22 October 2019.
  6. ^ "WELCOME MESSAGE OF THE AMBASSADOR". Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Russia). Retrieved 22 October 2019.
  7. ^ a b c d e "Embassy in Tokyo". Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Russia). Retrieved 22 October 2019.
  8. ^ "Consulate in Hakodate". Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Russia). Retrieved 22 October 2019.