Koji Tomita | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Japanese Ambassador to the United States | |
| In office December 25, 2020 – October 24, 2023 | |
| Prime Minister | Yoshihide Suga Fumio Kishida |
| Preceded by | Shinsuke Sugiyama |
| Succeeded by | Shigeo Yamada |
| Personal details | |
| Born | November 8, 1957 Fukuoka, Japan |
Koji Tomita (冨田 浩司, Tomita Kōji) is a Japanese diplomat who served as Japanese ambassador to the United States from 2020 to 2023.
Tomita was born in Fukuoka in 1957 and grew up in Hyogo prefecture. He joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs after graduating from the Faculty of Law at the University of Tokyo in 1981. After joining the Ministry he was sent to Oxford University for two years to receive training in the English language and international politics.[1]
His career as a diplomat included a previous tour in Washington during the administration of Barack Obama, as well as previous ambassadorships to Israel and South Korea.[2] On 28 April 2015, he was among the guests invited to the state dinner hosted by Obama in Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s honor at the White House.[3] In an interview, he said his familiarity with Obama-era officials led to his reappointment as ambassador after the election of Joe Biden.[4]
His wife, Noriko, is the daughter of the author Yukio Mishima. They have a son and two daughters.[5][6]
Tomita has published two books in Japanese on British prime ministers Winston Churchill and Margaret Thatcher, the latter of which received the Shichihei Yamamoto Award in 2019.[6][7]
