was a Japanese diplomat.

Biography

Watanabe was born in

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

, as a son of Akira Watanabe. He attended Hibiya High School and graduated from the

University of Tokyo The University of Tokyo (, abbreviated as in Japanese and UTokyo in English) is a public research university in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1877 as the nation's first modern university by the merger of several pre-westernisation era ins ...

. He joined the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

in 1959. He was Ambassador of Japan to

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

from 1988 to 1990. He was Grand

Chamberlain of Japan The is a department of the Imperial Household Agency of Japan. History According to Taihō Code around the 8th century, it was presupposed that a chamberlain belonged to the Ministry of the Center. When the was installed during the Heian e ...

from 1996 to 2007 and director-general of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan from 1993 to 1995. He was an adviser to the

Imperial Household Agency The (IHA) is an agency of the government of Japan in charge of state matters concerning the Imperial House of Japan, Imperial Family, and the keeping of the Privy Seal of Japan, Privy Seal and State Seal of Japan. From around the 8th century ...

from 2012 on. He was strongly opposed to the publication of the book Princess Masako: Prisoner of the Chrysanthemum Throne in 2007 and said the Imperial Household Agency could not accept it. Watanabe died on 8 February 2022, at the age of 85.渡辺允氏が死去　元侍従長、平成期に上皇ご夫妻支える

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Watanabe, Makoto 1936 births 2022 deaths Ambassadors of Japan to Jordan People from Tokyo University of Tokyo alumni