Takeo Akiba (秋葉 剛男, Akiba Takeo, born 19 December 1958) is a Japanese diplomat who has served as National Security Advisor to the Cabinet since 2021. He had a long career as a diplomat in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, serving as administrative vice minister from 2018 to 2021.
Takeo Akiba | |
|---|---|
秋葉 剛男 | |
 Official portrait, 2021 | |
| National Security Advisor to the Cabinet | |
| Assumed office 7 July 2021 | |
| Prime Minister | |
| Preceded by | Shigeru Kitamura |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 19 December 1958 Kawasaki, Kanagawa, Japan |
| Alma mater | University of Tokyo |
Biography
editTakeo Akiba was born on 19 December 1958, in Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture, but he grew up in Yokohama. Through junior and senior high school, Akiba attended Eiko Gakuen, where he was part of the soccer team. He later studied law at the University of Tokyo and joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs after graduating in 1982.[1][2][3]
Akiba was sent to receive English language training at the Fletcher School at Tufts University in the United States. As a diplomat Akiba held foreign postings in the embassy to the United States besides internal service as the Ministry mainly with the Treaty Bureau and the Minister's Secretariat. His appointment as chief of the China division in the Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau in 2007 was seen as snub to the "China School" of the ministry. Akiba was considered to represent a hard line towards China. He later served as political minister at the embassy to the United States and as senior counsellor in the Minister's Secretariat.[1][2][4][5]
Akiba was appointed chief of the International Legal Affairs Bureau in July 2014, and chief of the Foreign Policy Bureau in October of the following year. He was promoted to deputy foreign minister for political affairs (外務審議官, Gaimu Shingikan) in June 2016. In January 2018, he was made administrative vice minister for foreign affairs. Akiba was deeply trusted by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, and played a central role in formulating and promoting the concept of the Free and Open Indo-Pacific.[1][2][5]
Akiba retired from the ministry in June 2021, but on the following month he was appointed national security advisor to the Cabinet and secretary general of the National Security Secretariat by Yoshihide Suga, who had succeeded Abe as prime minister. Akiba remained when Fumio Kishida succeeded Suga.[1][2][6]
References
edit- ^ a b c d "国家安全保障局長 兼 内閣特別顧問". Cabinet Secretariat. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
- ^ a b c d "秋葉剛男-外務省外務事務次官の略歴書→令和３年６月２２日，勤務延長期限到来により退官した。" (PDF). 弁護士山中理司のブログ. Retrieved 16 September 2024.
- ^ "毎日フォーラム 霞が関ふるさと記 神奈川県 (5)". The Mainichi Shimbun (in Japanese). Tokyo. 7 October 2017. Retrieved 16 September 2024.
- ^ Rathus, Joel (2011). Japan, China and Networked Regionalism in East Asia. Springer. p. 64. ISBN 9780230342910.
- ^ a b Sugimoto, Koji (19 January 2018). "外務省・秋葉剛男次官体制スタート 安倍晋三首相と対中観共鳴…問われる手腕". The Sankei Shimbun (in Japanese). Tokyo. Retrieved 16 September 2024.
- ^ "Akiba tapped as Japan's next national security chief". The Yomiuri Shimbun. Tokyo. 20 June 2021. Retrieved 16 September 2024.