German Embassy Tokyo
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| State level | bilateral | ||
| Position of the authority | Embassy | ||
| Supervisory authority (s) | Ministry of Foreign Affairs | ||
| Headquarters |
 Tokyo
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| ambassador | Ina Lepel | ||
| Website | Embassy Tokyo | ||
The German Embassy Tokyo is the diplomatic representation of the Federal Republic of Germany towards Japan .
historical overview
1862-1870
On January 1, 1863, Max von Brandt began his work in Yokohama as Consul of Prussia . For his stays in Edo from 1865-1866 the temple Kogaku-in Takanawa and from 1866 to 1872 the temple Shunto-in in Moto- Azabu was made available to him. In 1868 v. Brandt appointed consul general.
1871-1914
With the establishment of the empire in 1871, v. Brandt on July 23, 1871 head of the now Imperial German Consulate General and charged with diplomatic representation. On December 30, 1871 appointed Minister Resident, he immediately tried to find a suitable plot of land and found it in Kōjimachi Hirakawa-chō, near the political center of Japan. It was a daimyo property that was used as a residence in Edo by a Hosokawa Yamashiro -no- kami on the district map "Soto-sakurada ezu with Kōjimachi and Nagatachō " from 1850 .
The property was not acquired, but leased. The lease contained a clawback clause in the event of justified personal use.
- The existing buildings, light wooden structures, were used as shown on the map from 1883. V. Brandt's successor Karl von Eisendecher , who was now envoy in April 1880, tried to get a new building, which led to controversy in the Reichstag because of the costs.
- 1883 First new building of the embassy. It was destroyed in 1894 by the "Meiji Tokyo earthquake" (magnitude 7.0) on July 20th.
- 1897 Second new building, designed by the well-known British architect Josiah Conder , who works in Japan .
- 1906 Imperial German Embassy.
With the outbreak of the First World War, the embassy ceased operations on August 23, 1914.
1920-1945
Diplomatic relations could only be resumed after the peace agreement was signed in 1920, with the German Reich being given back the embassy grounds. The first ambassador after the war, Wilhelm Solf , was able to restore the old relationship of trust with Japan and also gain a reputation in the diplomatic corps.
- 1923 The great Kantō earthquake destroys the Conder building.
- 1924 Third new building.
When the air raids on Tokyo became stronger and stronger during the Second World War, an escape point was set up in the Fuji View Hotel on Lake Kawaguchi from August 1944 . After the German surrender, work on the embassy began.
- All the embassy buildings were lost in an air raid on the night of May 26, 1945 .
1952 – today
After the war ended, the property was initially confiscated by the Americans as enemy property, but then returned to Japan in 1949. When diplomatic relations were resumed in 1952, the office was set up at Toriizaka in the Roppongi district , but the residence was set up elsewhere for reasons of space. The German side tried to re-use the old embassy property, but Japan, which was in the process of reorganizing the government district, invoked the above-mentioned clawback clause and offered other properties instead. A decision was made in favor of the property in Azabu. This property had a long history behind it:
- The core of the embassy grounds is the plot of land that is entered on the “Azabu” district map from 1857 as the secondary residence of Sakai Kuranosuke. Sakai held a senior position in the professional fire department.
- In 1883 the Naval Office used the Sakai property for offenders.
- In the Taishō period, the property was acquired by the art-loving journalist and politician Koizumi Sakutarō (1872-1937). The design of the garden goes back to him.
After Koizumi's death, the property passed through different hands until the Japanese government gave it to the Federal Republic for a symbolic price of 1 yen. In addition, however, there were 900,000 DM for an enclave for the Federal Republic .
- In 1956 the ambassador's residence was built on the property,
- In 1960, the fifth building was completed on June 1, 1960.
- 2005, inter alia, was to adapt to the new regulations for earthquake safety, the law firm for 6 (total) time with a new construction from Stuttgart architects Mahler Günster Fuchs replaced
tasks
The work of the German embassy is divided into the departments of politics, culture and public relations and economics. There are also the departments for nutrition, agriculture and consumer protection, the environment, finance, science and technology, industrial policy, labor and health and a consulate. A military attaché staff is also assigned to the embassy.
The embassy garden
The embassy garden slopes slightly to the southwest and contains a lot of what came to the embassy from the previous owners when they took over the property:
- Ambassador's residence ( 35 ° 39 ′ 1.4 ″ N , 139 ° 43 ′ 32.3 ″ E )
- Japanese style gate, "Bukemon" ( 35 ° 39 ′ 0 ″ N , 139 ° 43 ′ 33.5 ″ E )
- Tea house from the Taishō period
- Fujimi Inari Shrine. The shrine is located next to the Sakai property on the 1857 map. In Koizumi's time, he must have already owned his property.
- Bell tower. The bell in the bell tower was donated by Yamaoka Magokichi , for the Japanese-German friendship. It bears the date July 1959 and in Japanese the inscription "Bell of the Japanese-German friendship" as well as the dedication of Yamaoka "A beautiful world: with thanks from all my heart". In German the bell bears the Goethe word: "The tones fade, but the harmony remains."
- 13-story stone stupa
- Various stone figures and stone lanterns
Pictures of the garden
Japanese gate from the outside
The gate inside
Bell jar
Bell, detail
Stone figure
Inari shrine
Overview of the headquarters of the diplomatic mission
| 1872-1945 | Chancellery and residence: Kōjimachi, Nagata-chō 2-14 (Today the library of the Reichstag is located there ) |
| April 14, 1952- May 31, 1960 | Office: Minato-ku: Roppongi 5-chome, Higashi Toriizaka No 5 |
| 1952-1955 | Residence: Minato-ku, Iigura, Katamachi 26 |
| Since January 25, 1957 | Residence: Minato-ku, Minami-Azabu 4-5-10 |
| Since 1.6.1960 | Office: Minato-ku, Minami-Azabu 4-5-10 |
List of German diplomatic representatives in Japan
See also
- German Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Japan
- Prussian East Asia Expedition
- German-Japanese relations
- German missions abroad
- Japanese embassy in Berlin
Remarks
- ↑ It is one of the three branch families of the Hosokawa . The residence of the main branch of the Hosokawa ( Kumamoto-han ) was near Tokyo Station.
- ↑ Yamaoka ( 山岡 孫吉 ; 1888–1962) was the founder of the Yanmar company , which developed the smallest diesel engine in the world.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b The Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Tokyo. (PDF) German Embassy Tokyo, March 2013, accessed on May 2, 2020 .
- ↑ The ambassador and the individual departments. German missions in Japan, archived from the original on February 24, 2014 ; accessed on March 15, 2014 (status at the end of 2013; current structure will not be published).
- ↑ The Residenzgarten. German representations in Japan, accessed on May 2, 2020 .
- ↑ Foreign Office: The Fox Shrine. Retrieved May 2, 2020 .
- ↑ Foreign Office: The bell tower. Retrieved May 2, 2020 .
literature
- German Embassy Tokyo (Ed.): The garden of the German Embassy in Tokyo . First edition. September 1978.
- H. Schwalbe, H. Seemann (Ed.): German Ambassador to Japan 1860–1973 . German Society for Nature and Ethnology of East Asia , Tokyo 1974.
Web links
Coordinates: 35 ° 39 ′ 2.9 " N , 139 ° 43 ′ 30.8" E