Ambassador
- Translation:
- 日本語
U.S. Ambassadors to Japan
See below for Deputy Chiefs of Mission
Ambassadors: 1859-Present
| Name | Appointment | Credentials presented | Term of Mission |
| Townsend Harris | Jan. 19, 1859 | Nov. 5, 1859 | Presented recall, April 26, 1862 |
| Robert H. Pruyn | Oct. 12, 1861 | - | Recommissioned after confirmation |
| Jan. 22, 1862 | May 17, 1862 | Left Japan April 28, 1865 | |
| Chaubcey M. Depewl | Nov. 15, 1865 | - | - |
| Robert B. Van Valkenburgh | Jan. 18, 1866 | May 4, 1867 | Presented recall, Nov. 11, 1869 |
| Charles E. De Long | April 21, 1869 | Nov. 11, 1869 | Promoted to EE/MP |
| July 14, 1870 | June 9, 1872 | Had Farewell Audience, Oct. 7, 1873 | |
| John A. Bingham | May 31, 1873 | Oct. 7, 1873 | Recommissioned after confirmation |
| Richard B. Hubbard | April 2, 1885 | July 2, 1885 | Presented recall, May 15, 1889 |
| John F. Swift | March 12, 1889 | May 15, 1889 | Died at post, May 10, 1891 |
| Frank L. Coombs | April 20, 1892 | June 13, 1892 | Presented recall, July 14, 1893 |
| Edwin Dun | April 4, 1893 | July 14, 1893 | Presented recall, July 2, 1897 |
| Alfred E. Buck | April 13, 1897 | July 3, 1893 | Died at post, Dec. 4, 1902 |
| Lloyd C. Griscom | Dec. 16, 1902 | June 22, 1903 | Left Japan Nov. 19, 1905 |
| Luke E. Wright | Jan. 25, 1906 | May 26, 1906 | Left Japan August 1907 |
| Thomas J. O'Brien | June 11, 1907 | Oct. 15, 1907 | Recommissioned after confirmation |
| Dec. 12, 1907 | - | Left post, Aug. 31, 1911 | |
| Charles Page Bryan | Aug. 12, 1911 | Nov. 22, 1911 | Left post, Oct. 1, 1912 |
| Larz Anderson | Nov. 14, 1912 | Feb. 1, 1913 | Recommissioned after confirmation |
| March 1, 1913 | - | Left Japan, March 15, 1913 | |
| George W. Guthrie | May 20, 1913 | Aug. 7, 1913 | Died at post, March 8, 1917 |
| Roland S. Morris | Aug. 1, 1917 | Oct. 30, 1917 | Left Japan, May 15, 1920 |
| Charles B. Warren | June 29, 1921 | Sept. 24, 1921 | Left Japan, Jan. 28, 1922 |
| Cyrus E. Woods | March 3, 1923 | July 21, 1923 | Left Japan, June 5, 1924 |
| Edgar A. Bancroft | Sept. 23, 1924 | Nov. 19, 1924 | Recommissioned after confirmation |
| Jan. 21, 1925 | - | Died at Karuizawa, July 27, 1925 | |
| Charles MacVeagh | Sept. 24, 1925 | Dec. 9, 1925 | Recommissioned after conformation |
| Dec. 17, 1925 | - | Left Japan, Dec. 6, 1928 | |
| William R. Castle, Jr. | Dec. 11, 1929 | Jan. 24, 1930 | Left Japan, May 27, 1930 |
| W. Cameron Forbes | June 17, 1930 | Sept. 25, 1930 | Left Japan, March 22, 1932 |
| Joseph C. Grew | Feb. 19, 1932 | June 14, 1932 | Japan declared war on the U.S., Dec. 8, 1941 (Tokyo Time) |
| Robert D. Murphy | April 18, 1952 | May 9, 1952 | Relinquished charge, April 28, 1953 |
| John M. Allison | April 2, 1953 | May 28, 1953 | Left post, Feb. 2, 1957 |
| Douglas MacArthur | Dec. 4, 1956 | - | Recommissioned after confirmation |
| Jan. 29, 1957 | Feb. 25, 1957 | Left post, March 12, 1961 | |
| Edwin O. Reischauer | March 29, 1961 | April 27, 1961 | Left post, Aug. 19, 1966 |
| U. Alexis Johnson | Sept. 1, 1966 | Nov. 8, 1966 | Left post, Jan. 15, 1969 |
| Armin H. Meyer | May 27, 1969 | July 3, 1969 | Left post, March 27, 1972 |
| Robert S. Ingersoll | Feb. 29, 1972 | April 12, 1972 | Left post, Nov. 8, 1973 |
| James D. Hodgson | Jun. 20, 1974 | July 19, 1974 | Left post, Feb. 5, 1977 |
| Michael J.Mansfield | April 22, 1977 | June 10, 1977 | Left post, Dec. 22, 1988 |
| Michael H. Armacost | April 20, 1989 | May 15, 1989 | Left post, July 19, 1993 |
| Walter F. Mondale | Aug. 13, 1993 | Sep. 22, 1993 | Left post, Dec. 14, 1996 |
| Thomas S. Foley | Nov. 6, 1997 | Nov. 19, 1997 | Left post, April 1, 2001 |
| Howard H. Baker, Jr. | May 23, 2001 | July 5, 2001 | Left post, Feb. 17, 2005 |
| John Thomas Schieffer | March 17, 2005 | April 11, 2005 | Jan. 15, 2009 |
Deputy Chiefs of Mission
| Name | Appointed | Title |
| A.L. C. Portman | June 27, 1861 | Secretary & Interpreter |
| J. C. Hepburn | April 6, 1871 | Interpreter |
| Durham W. Stevens | Aug. 6, 1873 | Secretary of Legation |
| Gustavus Goward | Jan. 23, 1883 | Secretary of Legation |
| Fred S. Mansfield | Nov. 12, 1885 | Secretary of Legation |
| Edwin Dun | Sept. 3, 1889 | Secretary of Legation |
| Joseph R. Herod | March 8, 1895 | Secretary of Legation |
| Huntington Wilson | Oct. 10, 1900 | Secretary of Legation |
| H. Percival Dodge | Aug. 8, 1906 | Secretary of Embassy |
| Peter Augustus Jay | June 21, 1907 | Secretary of Embassy |
| Montgomery Schuyler | Dec. 21, 1908 | Secretary of Embassy |
| Arthur Bailly-Blanchard | Feb. 1, 1912 | Secretary of Embassy |
| Post Wheeler | June 3, 1914 | Secretary of Embassy |
| John Van A. MacMurray | Nov. 10, 1917 | Counselor |
| Hugh R. Wilson | Aug. 19, 1921 | Counselor |
| Jefferson Caffery | Sept. 5, 1923 | Counselor |
| Norman Armour | June 25, 1925 | Counselor of Embassy |
| Edwin L. Neville | April 12, 1928 | Counselor of Embassy |
| Eugene H. Dooman | Jan. 5, 1937 | Counselor of Embassy |
Embassy Closed December 8, 1941
Embassy re-established April 28, 1953
| William T. Turner |
April 10, 1953 |
Counselor |
| J. Graham Parsons | July 18, 1953 | Counselor of Embassy |
| Outerbridge Horsey | April 22, 1956 | Minister-Counselor |
| William Leonhart | December 28, 1958 | Minister-Counselor |
| John K. Emmerson | July 22, 1962 | DCM |
| David L. Osborn | January 1967 | DCM |
| Richard L. Sneider | September 1969 | DCM |
| Thomas P. Shoesmith | July 1972 | DCM |
| William C. Sherman | July 1977 | DCM |
| William Clark, Jr. | October 1981 | DCM |
| L. Desaix Anderson | June 1985 | DCM |
| William T. Breer | September 1989 | DCM |
| Rust M. Deming | October 1993 | DCM |
| Christopher J. LaFleur | November 1998 | DCM |
| Richard A. Christenson | July 2001 | DCM |
| Michael W. Michalak | April 2004 | DCM |
| Joseph R. Donovan | August 2005 | DCM |
| James P. Zumwalt | July 2008 | DCM |