Professor Nobukatsu Kanehara

Professor Nobukatsu Kanehara is Excecutive Director, The Sasakawa Peace Foundation and Professor of the Faculty of Law Department of Political Science, Doshisha University. He served as Assistant Chief Cabinet Secretary to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe from 2012 to 2019. In 2013, he became the inaugural Deputy Secretary-General of the National Security Secretariat, a role he held until his retirement from government service in 2019. He also served as Deputy Director of the Cabinet Intelligence and Research Office. Mr. Kanehara’s role in the Cabinet built on a distinguished career at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where he served in a number of notable positions, including Director-General of the Bureau of International Law, Deputy Director-General of the Foreign Policy Bureau, and Ambassador in charge of the United Nations and Human Rights. He served abroad as Deputy Chief of Mission in Seoul, Republic of Korea, and as Political Minister at the Embassy of Japan in Washington. He was decorated by the President of the Republic of France with l’Ordre de la Legion d’Honneur.