Jirō Shirasu | |
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Jirō Shirasu (left) with Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida on the way to the Treaty of San Francisco (1951)
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Native name | 白洲 次郎 |
Born |
Ashiya, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan |
17 February 1902
Died | 28 November 1985 | (aged 83)
Spouse(s) | Masako Shirasu |
Children | Katsurako Makiyama |
Jirō Shirasu (白洲 次郎 Shirasu Jirō?, 17 February 1902 – 28 November 1985) was a Japanese bureaucrat and businessman.
He was born in Ashiya in Hyogo Prefecture and studied at Clare College, Cambridge.
During the Occupation he was a member of Shigeru Yoshida's government. He is particularly remembered in Japan for an incident in Christmas 1945 where he delivered a present from Hirohito, Emperor of Japan to General Douglas MacArthur. When MacArthur told him to place it on the floor, he demanded a table to show respect. In 2009 he was the subject of an NHK drama.
His wife Masako Shirasu was a collector and expert of fine Japanese art, on which she published a number of books. Their house Buaisō became a museum.