IRIE Toshio

Toshio Irie (1901–1972) held a number of prominent positions in the Japanese government, the National Diet, and the Supreme Court, including serving as a member of the House of Peers and later as a Justice of the Supreme Court.

After the end of World War II, Irie held several senior positions in the Cabinet Legislation Bureau, becoming its Director-General in March 1946. Under Jōji Matsumoto, the Minister of State responsible for constitutional reform in the Shidehara Kijūrō Cabinet, Irie served as a member of the Constitutional Problem Investigation Committee (Matsumoto Committee) and played a central role in the government's efforts to revise the Constitution. In particular, he took the lead in drafting the proposal compiled by the Matsumoto Committee as “Plan B.”

In 1952, Irie was appointed a Justice of the Supreme Court. He participated in the deliberations of several important postwar constitutional and judicial cases, including the Sunagawa case, which concerned whether the stationing of U.S. forces in Japan constituted the maintenance of “war potential” prohibited by Article 9 of the Constitution, as well as the Tomabechi case, the Chatterley case, the Yahata Steel case, the Nerima case, and the Asahi lawsuit.