Japan and Singapore established diplomatic relations on 26 April 1966, a few months after Singapore was expelled from Malaysia and became an independent country. The construction of the current embassy was completed in 1978.[1] It was designed by the Japanese architect Shin'ichi Okada (岡田新一). The garden of the embassy was designed by the Japanese landscape architect Junichi Inada (稲田純一), who played a central role in planning Singapore's national parks for nearly half a century. His last work there was "The Canyon" at the Gardens by the Bay, completed in 2016.[2][3]
The incumbent ambassador since April 2023 is Eng Chuan Ong, who earned a Bachelor of Engineering degree from Tokyo Institute of Technology in 1993. Before being posted in Tokyo for the second time in his career, he served as Ambassador to Belgium with concurrent accreditation to the European Union, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg from April 2012 to April 2016, and as Deputy Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from May 2016 to May 2023.[4]
Scandals
Voyeuristic photographing of underage males
On 2 May 2024, it was reported that a Singaporean counsellor, then aged 55, was suspected of voyeuristically photographing a junior high school boy in a public bath in Minato, Tokyo, near the embassy during his tenure as a diplomat.[5] He had repeatedly committed this offence, and during questioning by the police, he agreed to delete 700 photos he had taken in the public bath. However, due to his diplomatic immunity, he was not arrested.[6] The Metropolitan Police Department was investigating the case with a view to charges of violation of the Act on Prohibition of Child Prostitution and Pornography (production) and the Act on Punishment of Persons for Taking Photographs of Sexual Desire (filming), but the Embassy of Singapore explained that he had completed his duties as of 12 April and already returned to Singapore.[7]
