Report Contents
Report Terms
Report Recommendations
The Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, in coordination with the Bureau of Human Resources, should upgrade the rank of the economic and political minister counselor positions at Embassy Tokyo to Senior Foreign Service class of minister counselor.
Embassy Tokyo should streamline the economic section by eliminating the deputy unit chief designation in the trade and economic policy unit and in the environment, science, technology, and health unit.
Embassy Tokyo should eliminate the standalone deputy function in the economic section and assign the current incumbent of the position to lead the trade and economic policy unit.
Embassy Tokyo should update the description for position 20466000 to eliminate the division of reporting responsibilities between the financial attaché and the economic section so that the officer reports solely to the financial attaché and through the attaché to the economic minister counselor.
Embassy Tokyo should shift supervision of its locally employed economic assistants and specialists to the section’s two unit chiefs.
The Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, in coordination with the Bureau of Human Resources, should abolish position 20439000 in the economic section effective upon the departure of the current incumbent.
The Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, in coordination with the Bureau of Human Resources, should move position 10641000 from the political to the public affairs section.
Embassy Tokyo should implement a political reporting plan that includes a contact development program.
Embassy Tokyo should update its economic reporting plan and focus resources on contact development and analytical reporting.
Embassy Tokyo should implement a standardized filing system for the economic section that uses common-use drives or folders.
Embassy Tokyo should establish a regular science cluster and an economic policy cluster coordinated by the economic minister counselor
Embassy Tokyo should require each principal officer to draft a reporting plan that includes reporting performance in principal officers’ performance evaluations.
Embassy Tokyo should develop and implement a public diplomacy strategy.
Embassy Tokyo should incorporate fully the American Center Japan into its public affairs strategy.
Embassy Tokyo should establish an internal speakers program.
The embassy should conduct a customer survey and a cost-benefit analysis to determine whether the Media Analysis and Translation Team’s products are needed to further embassy goals.
Embassy Tokyo, in coordination with the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, should develop a scope of work and establish clear guidelines governing the work of the Media Analysis and Translation Team.
Embassy Tokyo should designate a locally employed staff position in the public affairs section to act as coordinator for digital and social media activities.
Embassy Tokyo, in coordination with the Bureau of Administration, should comply with Department of State regulations and directives for grants management oversight, including scheduling periodic review by grants officers and grants officer representatives.
Embassy Tokyo, in coordination with the Bureau of Consular Affairs, should request that the Bureau of Human Resources eliminate the deputy unit chief positions in the visa and American citizens services units position numbers 31144000 and 34657000) when the incumbents complete their tours.
Embassy Tokyo should shift direct supervision of the consular communication unit to the Minister Counselor for Consular Affairs.
The Bureau of Consular Affairs should provide guidance to consular managers regarding how to comply with Department requirements to review issued passport applications.
Embassy Tokyo should cease offering routine consular services at American Presence Post Nagoya.
Embassy Tokyo, in coordination with the Bureau of Consular Affairs, should conduct a cost-benefit analysis of providing consular services in Fukuoka and Sapporo.
The Foreign Service Institute, in coordination with Embassy Tokyo, should conduct a cost-benefit analysis to determine whether it should outsource or continue to perform in house the overseas portion of the Japanese-Language training program.
Embassy Tokyo should justify its rationale for providing in-house accommodation exchange and determine whether it should continue.
Embassy Tokyo, in coordination with the Bureau of the Comptroller and Global Financial Services, should conduct a review of cash requirements to determine an adequate level of the cashier’s permanent advance.
Embassy Tokyo should require principal officers to pay official residence expense staff salaries directly.
Embassy Tokyo should issue a management announcement to mission staff outlining supervisors’ responsibility for the accuracy of employee position descriptions.
Embassy Tokyo should review locally employed staff position descriptions for accuracy and appropriate classification of grade and position title and update descriptions as needed.
Embassy Tokyo should hold managers accountable for completion of local employees’ performance reviews by the prescribed due date.
Embassy Tokyo, in coordination with the Bureau of Human Resources, should terminate the payment of post allowance to family member appointees.
Embassy Tokyo should outsource its post language program to commercial vendors.
Embassy Tokyo should provide Equal Employment Opportunity and discriminatory harassment training to mission staff.
Embassy Tokyo should report all allegations of sexual and discriminatory harassment to the Office of Civil Rights, issue a management notice advising that supervisors and other responsible Department officials must report all allegations of sexual harassment to the Office of Civil Rights, and provide sexual harassment training to all mission staff.
Embassy Tokyo, in coordination with the Bureau of Administration, should designate, train, and certify contracting officer’s representatives for contracts.
Embassy Tokyo should terminate all shuttle services that have not been justified in accordance with the Foreign Affairs Manual.
Embassy Tokyo should review and update the Mission’s Motor Vehicle Policy to include the constituent post specific information, other agency use, detailed operating procedures, vehicle safety standards, and liability limits.
Embassy Tokyo should reassign Consulate General Naha’s primary driver to the management section and assign the driver other management duties in addition to his responsibilities as a driver.
Embassy Tokyo should implement procedures to review leases and conduct residential safety, health, and fire prevention inspections on all living quarters allowance program housing.
Embassy Tokyo should update the Embassy Tokyo Housing Handbook to include policies and procedures for leasing and inspecting living quarters allowance housing and performing safety inspections.
Embassy Tokyo, in coordination with the Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations, should conduct a written cost analysis and feasibility study of providing housing on a military installation in Okinawa.
Embassy Tokyo, in coordination with the Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations and the Office of the Legal Adviser, should terminate housing its private domestic staff of its direct-hire officers in a separate Government-owned facility.
Embassy Tokyo, in coordination with the Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations, should conduct a review and determine each constituent post’s emergency generator power requirements.
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Embassy Tokyo should convene its local information technology configuration control board to review each locally developed application and approve, as appropriate.
Embassy Tokyo should perform a privacy impact assessment on the eCheckin application.
Embassy Tokyo should assign radios to no fewer than 51 percent of Department of State employees in the mission.
Embassy Tokyo should require other agencies to pay for the radios they are using on the mission’s emergency and evacuation network.
Embassy Tokyo should include system maintenance logging into the standard operating procedures for all the mission’s information technology networks.
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Embassy Tokyo, in coordination with the Bureau of Administration, should require the Tokyo Employee’s Welfare Association to review its operations and revise its business plan to make services self-supporting.
Embassy Tokyo, in coordination with the Bureau of Administration, should require the American Employee’s Welfare Association to develop and submit to the Office of Commissary and Recreation Affairs a capital investment strategy for use of its excess funding.
Embassy Tokyo should conduct and document unannounced quarterly reviews of locally employed staff certifying activity.
Embassy Tokyo, in coordination with the Bureau of the Comptroller and Global Financial Services, should review the travel documentation where actual costs were claimed, notify the employee of the indebtedness, and initiate collection.
Embassy Tokyo should revise its premium class train travel policy and issue a management notice advising employees that train travel at Government expense is only authorized using coach-class accommodations.
Embassy Tokyo should examine travel vouchers involving indirect travel of employees and resubmit those that were not reimbursed in accordance with the Foreign Affairs Manual to the Bureau of the Comptroller and Global Financial Services for review.
Embassy Tokyo should designate U.S. direct-hire supervisors within the public affairs section as approving officials for all travel.
Embassy Tokyo should report the potential Anti-Deficiency Act violation that occurred by using Diplomatic and Consular Program funding rather than representation funding to pay official representation expenses to the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs and the Bureau of the Comptroller and Global Financial Services.
The Bureau of East Asian Affairs, in coordination with the Bureau of the Comptroller and Global Financial Services, should determine whether the regional bureau’s representation allotment was exceeded and whether administrative discipline is warranted.
Embassy Tokyo, in coordination with the Bureau of the Comptroller and Global Financial Services, should report the circumstances surrounding the charging of official residence expense program fund instead of the representation fund.
Embassy Tokyo, in coordination with the Bureau of Administration, should determine whether the procuring of additional wait staff for representational events using an improper obligating document represents an unauthorized commitment.
Embassy Tokyo should implement procedures to prohibit consular personnel from using the doors between the waiting room and the consular office area, except in emergencies.
Embassy Tokyo should establish a consular exchange rate and review the rate on a monthly schedule or when the international rate exceeds that of the consular rate.