Ambassador Endo is a senior adjunct fellow at the Japan Institute of International Affairs and a visiting professor at Hitotsubashi University. He joined the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1958. While serving as counselor in the Embassy of Japan in the United Kingdom, he was a research associate in the International Institute for Security Studies. He has been the director of the Korea Division of the Asian Affairs Bureau, and deputy director-general of the United Nations Bureau. He has also served as ambassador of Japan in Vienna, Mexico, New Zealand, and as ambassador in charge of Japan-North Korea Normalization Talks, Asia-Pacific Cooperation in APEC, and the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization. He has also been the chairman of the board of the IAEA and vice-chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission. He studied at DePauw University, Princeton University, and is a graduate of the Tokyo University, Faculty of Law.