Meet the Ambassador of Japan to Austria: H.E. Mr. Kiyoshi Koinuma

PeopleDiplomats ♦ Published: April 3, 2018; 21:00 ♦ (Vindobona)

H.E. Mr. Kiyoshi Koinuma is the Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of Japan to Austria as well as the Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of Japan to Kosovo and Macedonia.

H.E. Mr. Kiyoshi Koinuma, Ambassador of Japan in Vienna with Austrian Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl / Picture: © Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan / Embassy of Japan in Austria (http://www.at.emb-japan.go.jp/de/60_newsevents/2018/20180123taishi.html)

In his opening address, Ambassador Kiyoshi Koinuma talks about himself and his personal relationship with Austria, where he is now working for the third time.

On October 4, 2016, he took up his post as Japan's Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador to Austria.

Previously, he was Ambassador to Zambia for three years.

His first place of work outside Japan about 35 years ago was Austria, where he worked for about 2 years. 

After working at Japan's Permanent Mission to the international organizations in Vienna from 1999 to 2001, he is now in Austria for the third time.

He sees the situation in such a way that Austria and the European Union are facing an internal economic imbalance triggered by the Greek crisis and a large influx of refugees, caused by civil war and terrorism in the Middle East, and therefore the view is directed inwards respectively a climate of xenophobia is developing.

"Japan is also facing a prolonged economic stagnation and a sudden change in the security environment in East Asia. This raises the question of how the country will participate in the creation of a new international order. The relations between Japan and Europe and thus between Japan and Austria, which have to solve great tasks in the course of globalization, will probably change in the future in this way. Japan and Austria will soon be celebrating the 150th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Friendship, Trade and Navigation of 1869, a significant year in which it will be extremely important to look back on past bilateral relations and reflect on the future relations between the two countries".

 

Personal Career Path:
Date of Birth: 29 June 1955
Education:
March 1978 Graduated from Keio University, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration
Career History:
April 1978 Joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1978
July 1981-April 1983 Secretary at the Japanese Embassy in Austria
September 1994 Senior Assistant, Political Coordination Department
April 1995 Director, Refugee Aid Department, Department of Multilateral Cooperation, Office for Foreign Affairs
April 1997 Director, Department of Foreign Nationals, Department of Consular and Migration Affairs
January 1999 Embassy Counsellor at the Permanent Representation of Japan to the International Organisations in Vienna
March 2001 Embassy Counselor at the Japanese Embassy in Myanmar
January 2002 Ambassador to the Japanese Embassy in Myanmar
May 2003 Deputy Director-General of JACAR (Japan Center for Asian Historical Records), Japan National Archive
August 2004 Deputy Director-General, Consular Affairs Office, Department for Multilateral Cooperation
August 2005 Director-General of the Regional Immigration Service of the City of Sapporo, Ministry of Justice
April 2008 Delegate to the Japanese Embassy in Germany
January 2010 Japanese Consul General in Düsseldorf, Germany
October 2013 Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of Japan to Zambia
since October 2016 Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of Japan to Austria
since December 2016 Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of Japan to Kosovo and Macedonia

Sources:
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan / Embassy of Japan in Austria:
http://www.at.emb-japan.go.jp/de/10_aboutus/010_ambassador/index.html
http://www.at.emb-japan.go.jp/de/10_aboutus/010_ambassador/20161031contrib.html