Sutemi Chinda was born in Hirosaki, Aomori Prefecture, on January 19, 1857. He graduated from DePauw University in 1881. He received his B.A. in 1881 and M.A. in 1884. In 1882, he married Iwa Satō and they had one son.
Chinda was appointed a clerk of the Foreign Office in 1885 and had charge of the Telegraph Section. He was consul at San Francisco (1890-1894) and Chemulpo, Korea (1894-1895); consul-general at Shanghai, China in 1895. Chinda was the minister resident in Brazil and next at The Hague from 1899-1900. He served as minister plenipotentiary and envoy extraordinary at Petrograd in 1900. In 1908, he was the Ambassador to Germany; Washington D.C. in 1911; and London in 1920. Chinda served as plenipotentiary to the Paris Peace Conferece in December 1918. Count and privy councillor in 1920 (baron in 1907 and viscount in 1911). He was on the suite of the HIM the emperor (emperor Taishō) when as crown prince, he visited Europe in 1921. Chinda was grand steward to the prince regent in 1921-1927 and lord chamberlain to the emporor in January 1927. He held this post until his death on January 16, 1929.