28 Facts About Nobuhiko Ushiba

Nobuhiko Ushiba was a Japanese diplomat who served as Ambassador to Canada from 1961 to 1964, Ambassador to the United States from 1970 to 1973, and as Minister of State for External Economic Affairs from 1977 to 1979.

Nobuhiko Ushiba was born 16 November 1909 in the city of Kobe in Japan.

Nobuhiko Ushiba's grandfather was an executive with the San'yo Railway.

Nobuhiko Ushiba's father was a silk merchant whose business failed under pressure from low-cost imports.

Nobuhiko Ushiba did not attend school until his parents moved to Tokyo soon after the Taisho period began in July 1912.

Nobuhiko Ushiba graduated from two of the city's most prestigious public schools, the First Middle School and the First High School.

Nobuhiko Ushiba was a championship rower, and just missed qualifying for the 1932 Summer Olympics.

Nobuhiko Ushiba did not aspire to a career in the foreign service, but with a worldwide depression depressing job prospects, his fluency in German, and his family's experience in international trade, he entered the diplomatic corps after graduation.

Nobuhiko Ushiba received an appointment as first secretary at the Japanese Embassy in Berlin, and served there until the end of World War II.

Nobuhiko Ushiba was very close to General Hiroshi Oshima, Japan's ambassador to Nazi Germany.

Nobuhiko Ushiba made at least one trip back to Japan during the height of the war.

Nobuhiko Ushiba flew from Berlin to Turkey, then pass over the Caucasus, the Caspian Sea, and Siberia before reaching Japan.

Nobuhiko Ushiba served as Oshima's defense counsel during the Tokyo War Crimes Trials, and then went into private business.

Nobuhiko Ushiba was rehabilitated and brought back into the foreign service by Shigeru Yoshida, Prime Minister of Japan, who knew him when Yoshida was Japan's ambassador to the United Kingdom just before the war.

Nobuhiko Ushiba was appointed Director-General of the International Trade Bureau in Japan's Ministry of International Trade and Industry in 1951.

Nobuhiko Ushiba was appointed a counsellor in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1954, and later that year served as a delegate to the Japan-Sweden trade talks.

Nobuhiko Ushiba was appointed Ambassador to Canada in 1961, serving until 1964.

Nobuhiko Ushiba left that position to lead the Japanese delegation to the Kennedy Round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, which lasted from 1964 to 1967.

Nobuhiko Ushiba was appointed Ambassador to the United States on 10 July 1970, and presented his credentials on 21 September.

Nobuhiko Ushiba himself believed that the fundamental relationship between Japan and the United States was changing.

Now, Nobuhiko Ushiba felt, Japan was in a position to do much more economically for developing nations in Southeast Asia, and was being asked to do favors for the United States economically.

Nobuhiko Ushiba had to handle the fallout from several major American foreign policy decisions.

Nobuhiko Ushiba retired from the foreign service in 1973 and returned to Japan.

Nobuhiko Ushiba served as an advisor to the Foreign Ministry, and became more active in politics.

Nobuhiko Ushiba was a tall man of rugged build, and an avid sportsman.

Nobuhiko Ushiba married Fujiko Kobayashi, and the couple had four children.

Nobuhiko Ushiba died of an unspecified liver problem at a Tokyo hospital on 31 December 1984.

The role of Nobuhiko Ushiba was played by actor Kanji Ishimaru.