Japan to Name Funakoshi Vice Foreign Minister

   Tokyo, Jan. 10 (Jiji Press)--The Japanese government on Friday appointed Takehiro Funakoshi, senior deputy foreign minister for political affairs, as vice foreign minister to succeed Masataka Okano, who is set to become chief of the National Security Secretariat.
   Funakoshi, 59, joined the Foreign Ministry in 1988. He took up the current post in August 2023 after serving in such positions as executive secretary to the prime minister and director-general of the ministry's Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau.
   Hiroyuki Namazu, 58, chief of the Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau, will succeed Funakoshi as senior deputy foreign minister for political affairs. After entering the ministry in 1989, Namazu worked in such posts as director-general of the International Legal Affairs Bureau and the Economic Affairs Bureau. Namazu assumed the current post in August 2023.
   The post of Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau director-general will go to Masaaki Kanai, 56, head of the International Legal Affairs Bureau. Kanai, who joined the ministry in 1992, took up the present post in August last year. His previous posts at the ministry include deputy director-general of the North American Affairs Bureau and director-general for cultural affairs.
   Kazuhiko Nakamura, 54, deputy director-general for global issues at the ministry's International Cooperation Bureau, will become director-general of the International Legal Affairs Bureau to succeed Kanai. After joining the ministry in 1992, Nakamura served in posts including deputy director-general of the Latin American and Caribbean Affairs Bureau, the Economic Affairs Bureau and the International Legal Affairs Bureau. He took up his current post in July last year.

(2025/01/10-19:48)

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