The Consulate General of Japan in New York was established on March 3, 1872, when the Government of Japan appointed Tetsunosuke Tomita as Consul-to-be.

In July 1872, the Meiji government also sent a diplomatic mission to New York called the Iwakura Mission. The mission’s goals were to gather information on American systems of government, education, and technology, and to revise the unequal treaties that Western nations had forced on Japan. The mission’s findings led to Japan’s modernization.