Takeuchi to become Japanese deputy FM
Kornelius Purba, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The promotion of the Japanese ambassador to Indonesia, Yukio Takeuchi, to the second-highest position in Japan's Foreign Ministry would provide strong benefits for relations between the two countries, a Japanese diplomat said on Thursday.
Koji Tsuruoka, a minister at the embassy, said Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi was impressed with the 59-year-old diplomat's achievements during his 11 months in Jakarta and was personally involved in Takeuchi's appointment as vice foreign minister.
The ambassador acted as Koizumi's chief advisor during meetings with President Megawati Soekarnoputri in Jakarta last month and in Tokyo last September.
"The promotion of ambassador Takeuchi to such a high position is a symbol of the importance of our two countries' ties," Tsuruoka told The Jakarta Post.
In Tokyo last Thursday, newly-appointed Japanese Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi announced Takeuchi's promotion to replace Yoshiji Nogami.
Koizumi had fired then foreign minister Makiko Tanaka and Nogami late last month following Tanaka's prolonged confrontation with officials at her ministry.
"I picked him (Takeuchi) because he is reform-minded and is capable of gaining consensus within the ministry as it continues internal reforms," Yomiuri Shimbun quoted the foreign minister as saying.
A graduate from Kyoto University and Oxford University in the 1960s, Takeuchi joined the Foreign Ministry in 1967. Included in a list of various overseas postings, was his first stint with the Japanese Embassy in Jakarta during the early 1980s. The youngest of his two sons was born in Jakarta.
In 1991 Takeuchi served as the private secretary to then prime minister Kiichi Miyazawa. His position before assuming his post in Jakarta last year was deputy vice minister for foreign policy.
Meanwhile, the outgoing ambassador and his wife Sumiko, hosted a farewell party on Wednesday night. Guests included Minister of Agriculture Bungaran Saragih, whose wife is Japanese, and former minister of foreign affairs Ali Alatas.