On March 1, JASH took the occasion of His Excellency Koji Tomita’s first visit to Texas to present him with the J. Thomas Schieffer Leadership Award.
Awarded in 2021, the 3rd annual J. Thomas Schieffer Leadership Award recognizes Ambassador Tomita’s tireless efforts to deepen important ties between Japan and the United States and to strengthen the Japan-America alliance.
Ambassador Tomita’s diplomatic career in the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) spans four decades. Most recently, Ambassador Tomita served as Japan’s Ambassador to Korea. Before that, he was Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s Personal Representative for the G20 Summit in Osaka and Ambassador to Israel. His other overseas postings have included London and Paris.
He has held multiple leadership positions in U.S.-Japan relations, including Director-General of MOFA’s North American Affairs Bureau and Deputy Chief of Mission at the Embassy of Japan in Washington, DC. In these capacities, he led the Japanese efforts to strengthen the Japan-US alliance and to promote mutual understanding between the two nations.
Since being named Japan’s new envoy to the United States in February 2021, Ambassador Tomita has worked to ensure the continuation of good relations between Japan and the United States over changes in administration. He has also led an array of initiatives to facilitate cooperation between Japan and the United States in areas such as COVID-19, climate change and space cooperation.