Matsushiro Horiguchi was named ambassador to Bangladesh Tuesday, and Kaname Ikeda, a former deputy vice minister of the defunct Science and Technology Agency, was made ambassador to Croatia, the Foreign Ministry said.
Horiguchi, 60, currently managing director of the Japan Vocational Ability Development Association, was an ambassador to Lebanon. Ikeda, 57, is a director of the National Space Development Agency of Japan.
These and other ambassadorial appointments, which take effect Wednesday, were approved at a Cabinet meeting Tuesday.
Ryuichi Tanabe, 55, a former minister at the embassy in India, will represent Japan in Serbia and Montenegro, formerly Yugoslavia.
Wataru Hayashi, 54, a former consul general in Ho Chi Minh City, will be ambassador to Colombia, while Osamu Yoshihara, 54, a former Sendai immigration bureau chief, will become ambassador to Madagascar.
Kojiro Shiojiri, a former deputy vice minister for the Foreign Ministry's European Affairs Bureau, will serve as a minister in the embassy in Washington.