# List of ambassadors of France to Japan

The list of ambassadors of France to Japan began developing in the same year that the American Commodore Perry "opened" Japan's doors to the West.
Franco-Japanese diplomatic relations were initially established during the Second Empire of French history and the Edo period of Japanese history.

## List of heads of mission
### Ambassadors of the Second Empire

| Head of mission | Tenure begins | Tenure ends | French Head of State | Japanese emperor |
| Jean-Baptiste Louis Gros | 1858 | 1858 | Napoleon III | Kōmei |
| Charles de Chassiron | 1858 | 1859 | Napoleon III | Kōmei |
| Gustave Duchesne de Bellecourt | 1859 | 1863 | Napoleon III | Kōmei |
| Léon Roches | 1863 | 1868 | Napoleon III | Kōmei |
| Maxime Outrey | 1868 | 1871 | Napoleon III | Meiji |

### Ambassadors of the Third Republic

| Head of mission | Tenure begins | Tenure ends | French Head of State | Japanese emperor |
| Paul Louis de Turenne | 1871 | 1872 | Adolphe Thiers | Meiji |
| | 1872 | 1890 | Patrice Mac-Mahon Jules Grévy | Meiji |
| Joseph Adam Sienkiewicz | 1890 | 1892 | Sadi Carnot | Meiji |
| Jules Harmand | 1894 | 1905 | Jean Casimir-Perier Félix Faure Émile Loubet | Meiji |
| Gaston Raindre | 1905 | 1909 | Armand Fallières | Meiji |
| Auguste Gérard | 1909 | 1914 | Armand Fallières | Taishō |
| Eugène Regnault | 1914 | 1918 | Raymond Poincaré | Taishō |
| Roger Maugras (chargé d'affaires) | 1918 | 1919 | Raymond Poincaré | Taishō |
| Edmond Bapst | 1919 | 1921 | Paul Deschanel Alexandre Millerand Gaston Doumergue Paul Doumer | Taishō |
| Paul Claudel | 1921 | 1927 | Paul Deschanel Alexandre Millerand Gaston Doumergue Paul Doumer | Taishō |
| Robert de Billy | 1927 | 1929 | Paul Deschanel Alexandre Millerand Gaston Doumergue Paul Doumer | Shōwa |
| Alfred de Martel | 1929 | 1933 | Paul Deschanel Alexandre Millerand Gaston Doumergue Paul Doumer | Shōwa |
| Fernand Pila | 1935 | 1936 | Albert Lebrun Henri Pétain | Shōwa |
| Charles Arsène-Henry [fr] | 1937 | 1943 | Albert Lebrun Henri Pétain | Shōwa |

### Ambassadors of the Fourth Republic

| Head of mission | Tenure begins | Tenure ends | French Head of State | Japanese emperor |
| Zinovi Pechkoff | 1946 | 1950 | Vincent Auriol | Shōwa |
| Maurice Dejean | 1950 | 1953 | Vincent Auriol | Shōwa |
| Daniel Lévi | 1953 | 1956 | Vincent Auriol | Shōwa |
| Armand Bérard | 1956 | 1959 | René Coty | Shōwa |

### Ambassadors of the Fifth Republic

| Head of mission | Tenure begins | Tenure ends | French Head of State | Japanese emperor |
| Jean Daridan | 1959 | 1961 | Charles de Gaulle | Shōwa |
| Étienne Dennery | 1961 | 1964 | Charles de Gaulle | Shōwa |
| François Missoffe | 1964 | 1966 | Charles de Gaulle | Shōwa |
| Louis de Guiringaud | 1966 | 1972 | Georges Pompidou | Shōwa |
| François Lefebvre de Laboulaye | 1972 | 1975 | Valéry Giscard d'Estaing | Shōwa |
| Jean-Pierre Brunet | 1975 | 1977 | Valéry Giscard d'Estaing | Shōwa |
| Louis Dauge | 1977 | 1979 | Valéry Giscard d'Estaing | Shōwa |
| Xavier Daufresne de la Chevalerie | 1979 | 1982 | François Mitterrand | Shōwa |
| André Ross | 1982 | 1985 | François Mitterrand | Shōwa |
| Gilbert Pérol | 1985 | 1987 | François Mitterrand | Shōwa |
| Bernard Dorin | 1987 | 1991 | François Mitterrand | Akihito |
| Loïc Hennekinne | 1991 | 1993 | François Mitterrand | Akihito |
| Jean-Bernard Ouvrieu | 1993 | 1998 | Jacques Chirac | Akihito |
| Maurice Gourdault-Montagne | 1998 | 2002 | Jacques Chirac | Akihito |
| Bernard Faubournet de Montferrand | 2002 | 2006 | Jacques Chirac | Akihito |
| Gildas Le Lidec | 2006 | 2007 | Jacques Chirac | Akihito |
| Philippe Faure | 2007 | 2011 | Nicolas Sarkozy | Akihito |
| Christian Masset | 2011 | 2014 | Francois Hollande | Akihito |
| Thierry Dana | 2014 | 2017 | Francois Hollande | Akihito |
| Laurent Pic | 2017 | 2020 | Emmanuel Macron | Akihito |
| Philippe Setton [ja] | 2020 | | Emmanuel Macron | Naruhito |