05/22/2008BY TSUTOMU ISHIAI, THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
The United States impressed young Ichiro Fujisaki as a "dynamic country" when he watched a televised debate in 1960 between presidential candidates Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy.
Photo: Ichiro FujisakiHe was a junior high school student in Seattle where his father was stationed in the diplomatic service. After he joined the Foreign Ministry in 1969, Fujisaki returned to the United States for university study and traveled across the country.
Fujisaki, now 60, will take up the post of Japan's ambassador to the United States in early June, succeeding Ryozo Kato, 66, who is retiring.
The career diplomat has an unwavering trust in the United States despite recent signs of an economic slowdown.
"It's not just its economic and military might, it has that immeasurable confidence that other countries place in it," Fujisaki says. "It will never wane."
In the latter half of the 1990s, he was a minister at the embassy in Washington as "Japan bashing" evolved into "Japan passing" during Bill Clinton's presidency.
Fujisaki built up numerous personal connections while coping with those difficult times.
Some pundits see his appointment as designed to better deal with a possible new Democratic Party administration.
However, Fujisaki quickly brushes aside that idea.
"What is important is to squarely deal with those in power at any time," he says. In fact, he has broad ties among Republicans as well.
To maintain the bilateral alliance, "It is important not to take the other side by surprise, nor to take the other for granted," he says.
Among his many postings, Fujisaki served as a sherpa for Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi at the 2004 Group of Eight Summit.
It came at a time when a rift between Washington and the United Nations was widening over the U.S.-led war in Iraq.
Fujisaki maintained that the United Nations should take the lead in the reconstruction of Iraq.
His subordinates say Fujisaki is able to make intelligent big-picture assessments based on his detailed knowledge of specifics.
He previously served as Japan's permanent representative to the U.N. Office in Geneva and other international organizations there.
During that time, he was known to insist that his team maintain an "all-Japan" perspective in all debate and negotiations, such as at the World Trade Organization, instead of attempting to represent their respective ministries back in Tokyo.
Fujisaki has also served as chief of the North American Affairs Bureau and as deputy foreign minister.
His late father Masato served as ambassador to Thailand, and after retirement from the diplomatic corps, as a Supreme Court justice.
While he was a minister in Washington, his family raised a puppy called Skipper that was to be a guide dog but instead became a police sniffer dog.
The dog, which has since been retired, has joined the Fujisaki family again and will be moving back to Washington with them soon.
(IHT/Asahi: May 22,2008)
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