page_title: John Roos
section_title: Ambassadorship
hierarchical_section_title: John Roos / Career / Ambassadorship
caption_attribution_description: ISHINOMAKI, Japan (March 23, 2011) Ambassador Roos views tsunami-hit areas from a helicopter over the coast of Japan.
context_page_description: John Victor Roos is an American businessman, attorney, and diplomat who served as United States Ambassador to Japan from 2009 to 2013. He is the Founding Partner of Geodesic Capital. Before accepting the ambassadorship from President Barack Obama, Roos was the CEO of Silicon Valley-based law firm of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati.
context_section_description: In May 2009 Obama named Roos to replace the departing Tom Schieffer as United States Ambassador to Japan.
  On August 7, 2009, the U.S. Senate confirmed Roos by unanimous consent. On August 16, 2009, Roos was formally sworn in as the new ambassador. Three days later he and his family arrived in Japan and on August 20 he presented his credentials to Emperor Akihito.
  Ambassador Roos' tenure in Japan coincided with a historic period in U.S.-Japan relations. Shortly after his arrival, the Democratic Party of Japan assumed power, the first real party transition in the Japanese government in 50 years. Roos played a key role in managing the relationship through that transition, as well as President Obama's rebalance to Asia, placing even more importance on the U.S.-Japan Alliance as the cornerstone of peace and security in the region. In addition to addressing the security, economic, and global challenges that Japan and the United States face, Roos provided a specific focus on areas of cooperation that include people to people connections, innovation, and entrepreneurship, and trade issues, including Japan's interest in joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership. He also worked closely with Japan on issues related to the Hague Convention and handling of International Parent-Child Abduction cases, ultimately resulting in Japan's joining in 2014. During his time in Japan, Ambassador Roos built relationships and established a rich and active dialogue with government leaders, business leaders, media and students over the course of his travels across all 47 of Japan's prefectures.
  On August 6, 2010, Roos attended the peace memorial ceremony in Hiroshima, the first US Ambassador to Japan to do so. Survivors of the U.S. atomic bombing welcomed his historic presence, where he offered a silent prayer for the victims of the bombing. His attendance was seen as an important step to advance President Obama's agenda to eliminate nuclear weapons. Roos returned to Hiroshima for the 2012 ceremony, and also became the first Ambassador to attend the Nagasaki memorial ceremony that year. His attendance was reported by all Japanese news media and widely praised.
  Following the devastating 9.0 earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear crisis on March 11, 2011, Ambassador Roos led the American mission to support Japan's response to the multi-dimensional and unprecedented disaster. He made his first visit to Ishinomaki, one of the coast towns heavily damaged by the huge tsunami, just 12 days after the catastrophe, a visit he described as, "one of the most moving events of my life." Roos led the coordination of American relief efforts in what he called "the world's first megadisaster." An hour after the earthquake, Roos declared an emergency and cleared the way for Operation Tomodachi—which means "friend" in Japanese—a massive relief operation. Nearly 200 U.S. military ships and aircraft transported food, clothing, and supplies to those left homeless. He also led the U.S. Embassy's response to the nuclear crisis that ensued when a 50-foot wave hit the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant. The disaster was intensified by the limited information available during its initial hours. Roos led the U.S. government's communication, and he used his Twitter feed to assure that the 155,000 Americans living in Japan received timely information about the disaster. Japanese public support of the United States reached historic highs (85% favorability) in the wake of the U.S. response to the disaster.
  Roos also led the creation of the TOMODACHI Initiative in the wake of the U.S. relief efforts, after traveling throughout the Tohoku region that had been hit by the earthquake and tsunami and hearing from the mayor of one hard hit town, Rikuzentakata, that what the United States could really do to help recovery was "give hope to our young people." From this suggestion, the Ambassador launched the TOMODACHI Initiative. The initiative is a public-private partnership with the U.S.-Japan Council, a Washington DC based organization, to invest in Japan's next generation of leaders. The Initi
caption: Amb. Roos views tsunami-hit area
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "Ambassador Roos views tsunami-hit area on the coast of Japan, 23 March 2011", "Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon EOS 5D Mark II", "Image XResolution": "240", "Image YResolution": "240", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image DateTime": "2011:03:24 15:51:54", "Image Copyright": "Ben Chang/U.S. Embassy Tokyo", "Image ExifOffset": "292", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "956", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "12225", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/125", "EXIF FNumber": "8", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "200", "EXIF SensitivityType": "Unknown", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2011:03:23 15:10:57", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2011:03:23 15:10:57", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "870723/125000", "EXIF ApertureValue": "6", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "2/3", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "4", "EXIF SubjectDistance": "29/50", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "28", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "87", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "87", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "5616000/1459", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "1872000/479", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "2", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF BodySerialNumber": "2311301703", "EXIF LensSpecification": "[24, 105, 0/0, 0/0]", "EXIF LensModel": "CEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE"}