Violence by its very nature has tragic human consequences. It is particularly ironic, however, when deliberate violence claims the lives of people who were present in the theatre of conflict because they were trying to give its victims hope. Ambassador Katsuhiko Oku* and his colleague, Masamori Inoue, were attempting to do just that when they sacrificed their lives near Tikrit on their return from a conference on the reconstruction of Iraq.

After his graduation from the Politics and Economics Department of Waseda University, Oku joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1981, after which he continued his studies at Hertford College in Oxford from 1982 to 1984, while attached to the Embassy of Japan in London. On his return to the Foreign Ministry in Tokyo, Oku spent the next few years gaining experience in various aspects of diplomacy, including stints in the Foreign Minister's Secretariat and in the division specialising in South West Asia. Assigned to the post of Second Secretary to the Embassy in Iran in 1990, he witnessed the devastation of the first Gulf War at first hand, and played an active role in arranging humanitarian assistance for numerous refugees.

After a posting to the Embassy of Japan in Washington as First Secretary from 1992 to 1995, Oku returned to Japan, where he spent time heading the division promoting co-operation between Asia and Europe.

In October 2001 Oku was appointed as Counsellor and Director of the Japan Information and Cultural Centre (JICC) at the Embassy of Japan in London. Arriving in the UK during last few months of Japan 2001, he invested his considerable energy in promoting grass-roots exchange between the British and Japanese peoples.

In April 2003 Oku was seconded to Iraq as the Japanese Government's liaison with the Allied forces and to identify potential projects to provide reconstruction aid. As part of his outreach mission he visited schools, hospitals and other institutions throughout the country. His detailed knowledge of Japan's Official Development Assistance procedures was highly useful at this time.

Total dedication to his mission shone through in Oku's endeavours in Iraq. The contribution he made to Japan's reconstruction efforts was singled out for praise by Prime Ministers Blair and Koizumi when they met earlier last year. He also made his deeply held views known to the public with regular reports from Iraq, posted on the Foreign Ministry's website (Japanese version).

As well as being a man with a strong devotion to his calling, Oku was also an accomplished sportsman, with a special passion for rugby. Having previously played for Waseda University, he became the first Japanese national to play for the Blues XV during his time at Hertford. He was also a long-standing member of the Japan RFU International Committee and made considerable efforts to support exchange between the UK and Japan in the field of sports.

Oku is survived by his wife Emiko and their son and two daughters.

Katsuhiko Oku was born on January 3rd, 1958. He died on November 29th, 2003.

(*On 29 November 2003 Oku was posthumously promoted to Ambassador.)


Activities at JICC

Ambassador Oku took up the post of Director of the Japan Information and Cultural Centre (JICC) at the Embassy in November 2001 and he also served as Joint Chief Executive of Japan 2001 for the last six months of the festival, attending and encouraging numerous cultural and educational events.

A keen believer in the importance of public relations, Oku initiated the renewal of the Embassy's newsletter, which resulted in the current improved On Japan. He also initiated a series of exhibitions in the Embassy's Foyer Gallery and made efforts to facilitate the Embassy's involvement in the recruitment process for the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Programme.

In particular, he focused on the promotion of Japanese culture and targeted the younger generation through the JICC school visit programme Club Taishikan. As well as welcoming schools to visit the Embassy itself, he stressed the importance of outreach, taking to the road in person to visit schools around the UK, encouraging hands-on experience and actively participating in slide shows as well as origami and calligraphy workshops.

He also had extensive contacts among journalists and tried to facilitate balanced coverage of Japan in the media.

Ambassador Oku started to work in Baghdad at the end of April 2003, the first Japanese government official to go to Iraq after the former regime was overthrown. His mission was to work as the official liaison between Japan and the bodies overseeing the reconstruction process, formerly the US Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance (ORHA) and the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA). In fact he and his colleague Masamori Inoue were the only Japanese representatives to the CPA. During his term, he co-ordinated information on behalf of his country and worked to identify future ways in which Japan could help with the reconstruction process.

His efforts helped lead the Japanese government to pledge a further assistance package of $5 billion during the International Conference on Reconstruction in Iraq in Madrid, last October. The package consists of a provision of grant assistance totalling US$1.5 billion to help meet the immediate reconstruction needs of Iraq, and concessional loans of US$3.5 billion for the medium term needs of rebuilding infrastructure within the context of resolution 1511 of the UN Security Council. Furthermore, On December 18, the Government of Japan announced that Self-Defence Forces Personnel will be dispatched to non-combat areas of Iraq in order to provide humanitarian and reconstruction assistance, including medical services, water supply, rehabilitation and maintenance of utilities and transportation materials.

Ambassador Katsuhiko Oku was a remarkable man. Talented, energetic and intensely sociable, he had a gift of leaving a deep impression on, and indeed touching the lives of, those he met, and this is true not only of his many friends in Japan but also those in the UK and the other countries and cultures with which he had significant contact.

I was privileged to be a friend of "Katsu" for over twenty years - at the time of our first meeting in Oxford in 1982 it was likely that we would have a lot in common. He had journeyed from Hyogo Prefectural Itami High School to Waseda University and its rugby side, and thence to the Foreign Ministry and the two year diplomatic course at Oxford, where he was a member of Hertford College. I meanwhile had left Oxford to work and play rugby for Kobe Steel in Hyogo. We met during a business trip back to the UK, and thus started a lasting and deep friendship.

Katsu was a trailblazer and a breaker-down of barriers all his life. Entry to Waseda was not a walkover from his background and certainly in the early 80's not many graduates of that University entered the Foreign Ministry. At Oxford he became the first Japanese national to play for the Blues rugby XV and become a member of Vincent's, the prestigious University sportsmans club. Throughout his diplomatic career, featuring postings to London, Teheran and Washington he was a member of the International Committee of the Japan Rugby Football Union, and an extremely well known unofficial ambassador for his country in this respect all over the world. During his first spell in the UK he was a leading light in the formation of London Japanese Rugby Club, which flourishes to this day.

Above all, however, Katsu reached out and into the societies and cultures he encountered and was never one for living in an expatriate "bubble". During his latest posting in London he renewed many old University friendships, was a popular member of Dulwich and Sydenham Hill Golf Club, and became the first Japanese member of the Garrick Club.

He was intensely warm hearted and cheerful with a tremendous zest for life - I know I am not alone in feeling keenly an immense sadness at the death of a very special person and dear friend, coupled with a sense of gratitude and pride in having known him.

In all of his endeavours, including the inevitable dislocations of diplomatic life, he had the unwavering support of his wife Emiko, whom he met at Waseda and married shortly after graduation, and his children Akiko, Chieko and Shinichiro, to all of whom primarily our thoughts and prayers go at this desperately sad time.

(Reg Clark is Chief Executive of Global HCM Group Plc and Treasurer of the Liberal Democrat Party. He spent most of his career with Kobe Steel in Japan and the UK, latterly as European Finance Director and was Treasurer of Japan 2001.)

Ambassador Oku arrived in London in November 2001 to take up his new position as Counsellor at the Embassy and with that role he inherited a second, Joint Chief Executive of Japan 2001. I had the great pleasure of working with him very closely during the following year.

Japan 2001 had already been going seven months, but was still gaining in momentum: the Japan 2001 team in London and Tokyo continued to raise money, encouraging organisers to put on events and making grants available to allow them to take place. Oku san threw himself into all this activity.

I recall the first event that he and I went to together shortly after he arrived; it was the opening of the Nebuta Exhibition, which had been worked on all autumn in the British Museum. I could tell how much he enjoyed seeing the effort that had gone into this creation by British and Japanese working together; and from that time on Oku san was rushing around the country with all the energy he brought to everything he did, encouraging and supporting hundreds of different events. It gave him considerable pleasure to find that rugby matches were an important element of that winter season of Japan 2001 and, needless to say, he attended them all, taking pleasure in bringing rugby players from our two countries together.

After the end of the official Japan 2001 events he embarked on an important programme of follow-up. He decided that his efforts and those of the JICC should be focused on visiting schools up and down the country which had participated in Japan 2001 and which, he believed, should be given every encouragement to build on that experience. Oku san had a great ability to delegate, concentrating himself on the overall policy and getting involved in the elements of a project where he thought that he could add most value.

Suddenly, last spring, Oku san was called away to Iraq. We kept in touch through an occasional email; he was fully absorbed with his role there. But we could see how he was throwing himself into the work of reconstruction in Iraq, work in whose importance he believed with a passion. Knowing him as we did, we could easily imagine what a great job he was doing there.

Oku san generated great affection in everyone with whom he came into contact. His great humour and joie de vivre was catching. His approach to his work was always so refreshing: we had a lot of fun, while at the same time doing much serious business. It was a great honour - as well as a huge pleasure - to have had the opportunity to know him as I did.

(Christopher Purvis was Chief Executive of Japan 2001. He is adviser to UBS Investment Bank, with whose predecessor firms he spent 10 years living in Japan. He is a director of Japan 21 and chairman of Japan Arena.)