Nobuhiko Ushiba; Ex-Japanese Ambassador to U.S.

Nobuhiko Ushiba, a former Japanese ambassador to the United States, died of a liver ailment at a Tokyo hospital Monday. He was 75.

Ushiba became director of the Foreign Ministry’s Economic Affairs Bureau in 1959, and was appointed ambassador to Canada two years later. He served in Ottawa until 1964.

He was a deputy vice minister for foreign affairs and administrative vice minister for foreign affairs before being assigned to Washington in 1970.

During his four years in Washington, Ushiba was involved in negotiations to limit Japanese textile exports to the United States, a knotty problem between the two countries in the early 1970s.

In 1979, Ushiba represented Japan at the multilateral Tokyo Round of General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade negotiations.

Between 1979 and 1981, he served as co-chairman of the U.S.-Japan Wisemen’s Group, a private advisory group of economists and businessmen from both countries.

As co-chairman, Ushiba drafted a report with Hewlett-Packard Inc. Chairman David Packard summarizing the group’s views on the general direction of the partnership between the two countries.