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