The Foreign Ministry plans to open diplomatic missions in the Vietnamese tourist destination of Da Nang and locations in three other countries in the next fiscal year, The Yomiuri Shimbun has learned.
In addition to a consulate general in Da Nang in central Vietnam, the three other planned missions are a consulate general in Siem Reap, near the World Heritage site Angkor Wat in Cambodia; a consular office in Noumea in the French territory of New Caledonia in the South Pacific; and a diplomatic office in Eritrea in northeastern Africa.
Diplomatic missions abroad serve as bases for the protection of Japanese nationals.
Because Japan has no such mission in Wuhan, China, where the novel coronavirus started spreading, diplomats from the embassy in Beijing were sent there to make arrangements for Japanese nationals to return home in January and February on charter flights dispatched by the Japanese government.
As of January, Japan had 227 diplomatic missions abroad. The number falls below the 233 of Britain, which has the fewest among permanent members of the U.N. Security Council.
Read more from The Japan News at https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/
