US president-elect Donald Trump plans to pick businessman William Hagerty as the next US ambassador to Japan, an adviser to Trump’s transition team said on Wednesday. Japan’s Nikkei news service reported that Trump would soon announce the choice of Hagerty, the director of presidential appointments in his transition team. An adviser confirmed the Nikkei report on condition of anonymity. Hagerty is a Tennessee native who founded a private equity firm, Hagerty Peterson. He spent several years in Japan with the Boston Consulting Group management consultancy and later served in the White House of former President George H. W. Bush. He will replace Caroline Kennedy, who has held the position since 2013. Japan’s chief cabinet secretary, Yoshihide Suga, declined to comment on the report since the choice has yet to be formally announced, saying only that he hoped the new ambassador would be able to develop a friendly US-Japan relationship.
