KINGSTON, Jamaica — Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Senator Kamina Johnson Smith, has appointed Ariel Bowen as Jamaica’s seventh ambassador to Japan.

According to a ministry release on Friday, Bowen is a career diplomat with more than 30 years’ experience in the foreign service. She succeeds Ambassador Shorna-Kay Richards and currently serves as officer-in-charge at the Consulate-General of Jamaica in New York, a post she has held since November last year.

“Mrs Bowen brings to this assignment broad diplomatic experience and a deep understanding of the ministry’s work and Jamaica’s foreign policy priorities. I am confident that she will build on the work of Ambassador Richards and further advance the longstanding and mutually beneficial relationship between Jamaica and Japan,” Johnson Smith said while commending Bowen on her appointment.