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Hisashi Owada
Judge

Hisashi Owada

Famoose for

Presiding over the International Court of Justice

UN diplomacy · Court presidency

Born
18 September 1932
Birthplace
Shibata

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Hisashi Owada

Hisashi Owada is a Japanese diplomat and international lawyer who served on the International Court of Justice from 2003 to 2018. He was its president from 2009 to 2012.

Early life

University studies

Born in Shibata, he graduated from the University of Tokyo before studying law at Cambridge.

Career

  1. 1955

    Foreign service

    Entered Japan’s diplomatic service.

  2. 1994–1998

    United Nations

    Served as Japan’s permanent representative to the UN.

  3. 2003–2018

    International Court of Justice

    Served as a judge, including a term as president from 2009 to 2012.

Selected work

UN diplomacy

Represented Japan in multilateral negotiations.

Court presidency

Led the principal judicial organ of the United Nations.

Beyond work

Family

He married Yumiko Egashira in 1962. Their three daughters include Masako, who became Japan’s empress.

Sources & photo creditBiography and career ↗Biographical references ↗

Original photograph. Cropped and displayed in monochrome.

Photo: Regina Kühne. CC BY-SA 4.0 · Original image. Cropped and displayed in monochrome.