Japan names Yamada as ambassador to U.S., Kanasugi to China

The Japanese government on Tuesday named Shigeo Yamada and Kenji Kanasugi as its new ambassadors to the United States and China, respectively, both effective immediately.The appointment of the envoys to the world's two largest economies comes before next year's presidential election in the United States, Japan's close ally, and as Tokyo is aiming to hold a high-level dialogue with Beijing to ease strained bilateral ties.Yamada, 59, a former senior deputy foreign minister in charge of political affairs, replaces Koji Tomita, while Kanasugi, 64, who was an envoy to Indonesia, takes over from …READ FULL ARTICLE