 The Japanese government appointed Yoshinori Katori, press secretary at the Foreign Ministry, as ambassador to Israel on August 1, 2006.Katori previously served as minister to South Korea and director-general of the Consular Affairs Bureau before assuming the current post in August 2005.In September 2008, Katori ended his post to Israel and was replaced by ambassador Haruhisa Takeuchi, who presented his credentials on December 1, 2008.