The Making of a Japanese Ambassador

The Washington Post keeps telling us that the Japanese will love Caroline Kennedy as an ambassador, because they appreciate the honor of our sending an ambassador of vast experience and respect. As Jason Horowitz put it:

Diplomatic sources said that the Japanese tend to be flattered when the American ambassador is a person of great renown, because it confirms their importance to the United States. Past ambassadors to Japan have included former Senate majority leaders Mike Mansfield and Howard Baker, former vice president Walter F. Mondale, and former House speaker Tom Foley.

Well, let’s see. Each one of those ambassadors had previously served more than 20 years in high public office. Caroline Kennedy is the daughter of a president and a major supporter of the incumbent president’s first campaign. I suspect the Japanese are thinking this week, “One of these things is not like the others.”