History
Since the opening of Japan by Commodore Matthew C. Perry, in 1854, the U.S. maintained diplomatic relations with Japan, except for the ten-year period following the attack on Pearl Harbor and the subsequent declaration of war on Japan by the United States. The United States maintains an embassy in Tokyo, with consulates-general in Osaka, Nagoya, Sapporo, Fukuoka, and Naha.
In recent years, the post has been held by many significant American politicians, including Mike Mansfield, Walter Mondale, Tom Foley and Howard Baker.
The current ambassador to Japan is John Roos who was nominated by President Barack Obama and confirmed by the Senate on August 7, 2009. Roos presented his credentials to His Imperial Majesty Akihito, Emperor of Japan, on August 20, 2009.
Read more about this topic: United States Ambassador To Japan
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“Those who weep for the happy periods which they encounter in history acknowledge what they want; not the alleviation but the silencing of misery.”
—Albert Camus (1913–1960)
“You that would judge me do not judge alone
This book or that, come to this hallowed place
Where my friends’ portraits hang and look thereon;
Ireland’s history in their lineaments trace;
Think where man’s glory most begins and ends
And say my glory was I had such friends.”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)
“One classic American landscape haunts all of American literature. It is a picture of Eden, perceived at the instant of history when corruption has just begun to set in. The serpent has shown his scaly head in the undergrowth. The apple gleams on the tree. The old drama of the Fall is ready to start all over again.”
—Jonathan Raban (b. 1942)