Saburo Tokura

Saburo Tokura, born in 1954, is a Japanese jurist who served as the 20th Chief Justice of Japan from June 2022 until his mandatory retirement in August 2024, having earlier been an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Japan from 2017. He graduated in law from Hitotsubashi University in 1980 and then spent more than thirty-five years on the lower courts, sitting on the district courts of Osaka, Sapporo, Tokyo and Hiroshima, serving as Counselor in several bureaus of the Supreme Court from 2000 to 2008, becoming presiding judge of the Tokyo District Court in 2008 and president of the Tokyo High Court in 2016. As with every Japanese justice his appointment was formally made by the Emperor on the Cabinet's nomination, and his term ended at the mandatory retirement age of 70.