Asako Okai

Asako Okai is a Japanese diplomat and UN official currently serving as the ambassador of Japan in Bahrain. She started her roles as the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) assistant administrator, director for the UNDP Crisis Bureau, and United Nations Assistant Secretary-General in 2018. She led the corporate crisis-related work of UNDP.

Personal life
Asako Okai was born in Tokyo, Japan in 1966. Her father was a reporter for the Nihon Keizai Shimbun, a Japanese newspaper. She attended school in Washington, DC from the fifth grade until the 11th grade when she returned to Japan.

She is married.

Education
She completed her secondary education at Tokyo Gakugei University High School. In 1989, she graduated from Hitotsubashi University with a bachelor’s degree in law. At Hitotsubashi, she participated in the Yasuo Sugihara Seminar. In 1992, Okai completed a master’s of arts in art history at the Emmanuel College, Cambridge University.

Japan government
Asako Okai entered the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and held various positions throughout her career. She worked in divisions related to culture, economic cooperation, policy planning, and international cooperation. Some notable positions included deputy director of the Western Europe Division, First Secretary at the Embassy of Japan in Pakistan and deputy director of Australia Division, Director of the Policy Division in the Economic Cooperation Bureau, and Director of the Humanitarian Assistance Division.

In 2010, she served as Minister Counselor (Political Affairs) at the Permanent Mission of Japan to the United Nations and was a Senior Policy Coordinator in the Office of the President of the 66th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in 2011. In 2012, she continued her role as Minister Counselor (Political Affairs) at the Permanent Mission of Japan to the United Nations.

In 2014, Okai became the Deputy Chief of Mission at the Embassy of Japan in Sri Lanka and concurrently served in the Maldives. In 2016, she became the first female Consul General of Japan in Canada, holding the position in Vancouver.

United Nations
In 2018, she served as Minister at the Permanent Mission of Japan to the United Nations. Later, she took on roles as Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations, Assistant Administrator and Deputy Director-General of the United Nations Development Programme.

Okai also served as the second director of the Crisis Response Bureau of UNDP(former Crisis Response Unit), where she played a role in formulating cooperation plans with other agencies.