Tokujirō Kanamori
Japanese legal scholar, bureaucrat and politician
About Tokujirō Kanamori
Lived 1886 – 1959 (aged 73). Tokujirō Kanamori was a Japanese legal counselor and politician.
was a Japanese politician. He was a major figure in the implementation of the postwar Japanese Constitution.
Kanamori was born in 1886 in Aichi Prefecture. He graduated from Tokyo University in 1912 with a degree in Law, and started work for the Ministry of Finance. In 1924, he was appointed as Director of the new Cabinet Legislation Bureau (the first person to hold this post) and he subsequently became Director-General of the Bureau a decade later. He was, however, pressured into resigning only two years later, due to sympathies with the controversial "Emperor Organ" theory proposed by Tatsukichi Minobe. Nevertheless, he remained a respected constitutional scholar, who had published several books on the Meiji Constitution. He was consulted on the wording of the new constitution by Toshio Irie.
His election to the House of Peers in 1946 marked the start of his return to politics. He was elected as Minister of State in the first cabinet of Shigeru Yoshida, and in this capacity argued forcefully in favour of the new postwar constitution. After the implementation of the new legislation, Kanamori helped to form the Kenpō Fukyū Kai (Constitution Popularization Society) in December 1946, and published books and tracts to spread awareness of the new laws throughout the population.
In 1948 he became the first librarian of the National Diet Library, a post he held until his death in 1959.
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Important facts
People in Tokujirō Kanamori's life
Named in this biography and alive at the same time
Contemporaries
People whose lives overlapped Tokujirō Kanamori's
Frequently asked questions
Who was Tokujirō Kanamori?
Japanese legal scholar, bureaucrat and politician
When was Tokujirō Kanamori born?
Tokujirō Kanamori was born on 17 March 1886 in Nagoya.
When did Tokujirō Kanamori die?
Tokujirō Kanamori died on 16 June 1959.
What was Tokujirō Kanamori's occupation?
Tokujirō Kanamori was a legal counselor and politician.
What nationality was Tokujirō Kanamori?
Tokujirō Kanamori was Japanese.
Sources & further reading
· Wikipedia: Tokujirō Kanamori
Cite this page
APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Tokujirō Kanamori. https://biography.guide/tokujiro-kanamori/
MLA: "Tokujirō Kanamori." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/tokujiro-kanamori/.
Chicago: "Tokujirō Kanamori." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/tokujiro-kanamori/.
Data last updated: 2026-09-21 · Spot an error? Report a correction.
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