Japanese politician and diplomat
Hisahiko Okazaki (岡崎 久彦,Okazaki Hisahiko) (April 8, 1930 – October 26, 2014) was a Japanesediplomat, political commentator, and director of theOkazaki Institute inTokyo.
Okazaki was born inKwantung Leased Territory, Dalian, China. His grandfather wasOkazaki Kunisuke, who was the first cousin ofMutsu Munemitsu.
After passing the diplomat examination in 1952, Okazaki withdrew from theUniversity of Tokyo (Faculty of Law) and began his career as a diplomat. He received a B.A and M.A. in Economics fromTrinity College, Cambridge in 1955.
Between 1978 and 1981 Okazaki served as director general for foreign relations at theJapan Defense Agency. From 1981 to 1984 he served as minister at the Japanese Embassy in Washington D.C. In 1984-1988 he served as ambassador to Saudi Arabia, and in 1988-1992 as ambassador to Thailand. In 1992 he retired from the diplomatic service, and worked as senior adviser toHakuhodo Inc. until 1995. From 1995 onward, he was the director of the Okazaki Institute and a personal adviser to severalPrime Ministers of Japan.
- Okazaki deemed strong ties with the United States to be vial for the future of Asia.[1] For Japan to continue its alliance with the US, he thought it was necessary to increase the national defense budget above the traditional 1 percent of the GDP,[2]
- Regarding the China-Taiwan dispute, Okazaki was of the opinion that a unification between thePeople's Republic of China and Taiwan would be detrimental to human rights in Taiwan.[3]
- As one of his life projects, Okazaki wrote a five-volume work on the diplomatic history of modern Japan, which is now also available in English.
- Between Friends: Japanese Diplomats Look at Japan-U.S. Relations with Hiroshi Kitamura and Ryohei Murata, trans. Daniel R. Zoll (New York: Weatherhill, 1985)
- From Uraga to San Francisco: A Century of Japanese Diplomacy 1853-1952 (Tokyo: Japan Echo, inc., 2007)
- Mutsu Munemitsu and His Time trans. Makito Noda (Tokyo: Japan Publishing Industry Foundation for Culture, 2018)
- Komura Jutaro and His Time trans. Makito Noda (Tokyo: Japan Publishing Industry Foundation for Culture, 2020)
- Shidehara Kijuro and His Time trans. Makito Noda (Tokyo: Japan Publishing Industry Foundation for Culture, 2019)
- Shigemitsu and Togo and Their Time trans. Makito Noda (Tokyo: Japan Publishing Industry Foundation for Culture, 2019)
- Yoshida Shigeru and His Time trans. Makito Noda (Tokyo: Japan Publishing Industry Foundation for Culture, 2019)
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