Ambassador's Message

November 1, 2018

                                                           Welcome to the website of the Embassy of Japan in Sri Lanka!                                                                       
   
    I arrived in Sri Lanka in mid – October and I presented the credentials to His Excellency the President Maithripala Sirisena on 1st November 2018. I’m very pleased to be appointed as the 23rd Japanese Ambassador to Sri Lanka, since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries in 1952.
 
   Japan and Sri Lanka have been steadily building up  friendly and cooperative relations for a long period of time. Last year, we marked the 65th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic relations. This year witnessed the visit of the Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono to Sri Lanka in January, the first Foreign Ministerial visit to this country in fifteen years, as well as the official visit of His Excellency the President Maithripala Sirisena to Japan in March. Through such frequent high-level visits, our bilateral relations are further expanding and deepening. I will dedicate myself to further developing our friendly and cordial relations and strengthening our comprehensive partnership as maritime states.
 
   
       At the San Francisco Peace Conference in 1951, His Excellency Mr. J. R. Jayewardene, representative of this country at the conference, who later became the President of Sri Lanka, appealed for Japan’s reintegration to the international community after World War II, quoting from the words of Buddha “Hatred ceases not by hatred, but by love”. I think that this should be remembered with gratitude by the Japanese people. 
      
       I heard that there is a monument to honor this remark in “Kōtoku-in” Temple in Kamakura, famous for the Great Buddha. I visited the temple to see the monument before my departure to Sri Lanka. Impressed by the bond between Japan and Sri Lanka through Buddhism, I renewed my determination to continue to value such a deep bond between the two countries.
 
     We hope that this website would inform you of our Embassy’s activities and help those who wish for the development of the broad and long-lasting friendly relationship between Japan and Sri Lanka.
 
 
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
 of Japan to Sri Lanka
Akira Sugiyama (Mr.)


 

Japanese Ambassadors and Heads of Mission to Sri Lanka 1952～

  Name Period/Year
1 Tetsuo Ban (Head of Mission)  Jan 1952 ～Aug 1953
2 Shirohichi Kimura (Head of Mission)  Jan 1954～Feb 1955
3 Shirouji Yuuki  Apr 1955～Jun 1957
4 Akira Matsui  Jul 1957～Sep 1959
5 Yasusuke Katsuno  Feb 1960～Jul 1962
6 Jiro Takase  Sep 1962～Mar 1966
7 Seizo Hinata  Mar 1966～Aug 1968
8 Yoshio Yamamoto  Sep 1968～Jul 1971
9 Sahichiro Matsui  Jul 1971～Dec 1973
10 Akira Yoshioka  Jun 1974～Mar 1977
11 Keisuke Ochi  May 1977～Jul 1980
12 Kazuo Chiba  Sep 1980～Jan 1983
13 Hiroshi Ohtaka  Mar 1983～Mar 1987
14 Yasuya Hamamoto  Mar 1987～Jun 1989
15 Isamu Nitta  Aug 1989～Jun 1992
16 Masaki Kuniyasu  Jul 1992～Oct 1994
17 Yasuo Noguchi  Oct 1994～May 1997
18 Yoji Sugiyama  May 1997～Jun 2000
19 Seiichiro Otsuka  Aug 2000～Oct 2003
20 Akio Suda  Nov 2003～Jul 2006
21 Kiyoshi Araki    Aug 2006～Mar 2009
22 Kunio Takahashi  Mar 2009～Oct 2011
23 Nobuhito Hobo  Oct 2011～June 2015
24 Kenichi Suganuma  June 2015～Oct 2018
25 Akira Sugiyama  Oct 2018～

Back to Top