This year’s Princess Chichibu Memorial Lecture will be given by HE Ambassador Paul Madden CMG. He will talk on “Rambling in the English-speaking world” in English.

Mr Madden became British Ambassador to Japan in January 2017. He was previously British High Commissioner to Australia (2011-15) and British High Commissioner to Singapore (2007-11). He was Additional Director for Asia Pacific at the FCO in 2015.
His first posting to Tokyo was as First Secretary, Economic Section (1988-92). Before joining the FCO, he worked on trade policy at the Department of Trade and Industry (1980-87) in a range of industrial sectors, and was head of the Japan team. He spent two years as a Minister’s Private Secretary. Mr Madden holds an MA in Economic Geography from Cambridge University, and an MBA from Durham University; he also studied Japanese at London University’s School of Oriental and African Studies, and is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society. He first visited Japan on a study tour in 1982, after winning an essay contest organized by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He and his wife Sarah have three adult children; he was born in Devon.