English: Rachel Brunette-Chen began her assignment as Principal Officer at the U.S. Consulate in Sapporo in August 2016. Ms. Brunette-Chen joined the Foreign Service in November 2002. Her previous assignments include Taipei, Washington, D.C., Beijing, and Tokyo, where she completed a one-year diplomatic exchange fellowship at Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs followed by an assignment at the U.S. Embassy as Deputy Director of the Political and Military Affairs Unit.
A native of Monroe, Wisconsin, Ms. Brunette-Chen holds a B.A. and M.A. in East Asian Studies from Stanford University. Before joining the Foreign Service, she worked as a business analyst for Deloitte Consulting and as a Curriculum Developer for the Stanford Program on International and Cross-Cultural Education.
Ms. Brunette-Chen first encountered Japan as a Rotary Youth Exchange Student in Fukaya, Saitama Prefecture. She later returned to Japan for further study at the Kyoto Center for Japanese Studies and the Inter-University Center for Japanese Studies in Yokohama. She is a fellow of the U.S.-Japan Leadership Program.
Ms. Brunette-Chen is married to Perry Chen, who is also a Foreign Service Officer. They have two young daughters. Together, they enjoy travel, music and arts, and spending time outdoors.