Jirō Shirasu

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.