Launched in 2015, International House and UChicago Global joined forces with the Chicago Consular Corps to expand the Diplomatic Encounters Series to better connect the UChicago community with representatives of diplomatic missions from around Chicago and across the nation. In partnership with the Center for East Asian Studies (CEAS), we will be hosting HIROSHI TAJIMA, Consul-General of Japan in conversation with Susan L. Burns, Professor of Japanese History and Director of CEAS.

This event is free and open to the public.

TAJIMA Hiroshi assumed his current position of Consul-General of Japan in Chicago in September 2021. The Consulate-General of Japan in Chicago serves in ten Midwestern states: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.

Mr. Tajima previously held the position of Deputy Assistant Minister / Deputy Director-General of the Economic Affairs Bureau and Foreign Policy Bureau of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Japan. He also acted as the Ambassador of Japan in charge of Economic Diplomacy and Senior Official of Japan for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC).

Since joining the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1989, Mr. Tajima has held numerous positions centering on national security, economic and consular policies. During 2008-2015, he was the Official Interpreter to His Majesty the Emperor of Japan. Mr. Tajima’s previous overseas assignments include the Embassies of Japan in London and in Moscow as well as the Permanent Mission of Japan to the United Nations in New York.

Mr. Tajima received a B.A. in Economics from Keio University and an M.A. in Politics and Economics from the University of Oxford.

This event is co-sponsored by the Center for East Asian Studies, the International House Diplomatic Encounters Series, and UChicago Medicine with the generous support of Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Medical Sciences, India (Sri Sathya Baba, Founder).