Kazuto Ishida

{{Short description|5th Chief Justice of Japan}}

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Kazuto Ishida ({{langx|ja|石田和外}}; May 20, 1903 – May 9, 1979) was the 5th Chief Justice of Japan (1969–1973). He was a practitioner of kendo. He was a graduate of the University of Tokyo.

As an associate justice in the mid-1960s, Ishida penned a dissenting opinion in a Grand Bench decision limiting criminal prosecution of labor leaders. This was a contributing factor to his appointment as Chief Justice by Prime Minister Eisaku Sato in 1968, in an attempt to give the court more conservative leadership at a time when Japan saw massive radical student demonstrations. One of Ishida's final decisions, in 1973, expanded police powers to punish demonstrators.{{Cite journal|last=Repeta|first=Lawrence|author-link=:ja:ローレンス・レペタ|date=2011|title=Reserved Seats on Japan's Supreme Court|url=https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=&httpsredir=1&article=1072&context=law_lawreview|journal=Washington University Law Review|volume=88|pages=1726–1734}} Ishida's court was the first in a line of conservative Supreme Court benches that continued into the early 21st century.{{Cite news|url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2002/06/22/national/a-judiciary-ruled-by-conscience-or-politics/|title=A judiciary ruled by conscience or politics?|last=Asakura|first=Takuya|date=2002-06-22|work=The Japan Times Online|access-date=2019-03-26|language=en-US|issn=0447-5763}}

After his tenure as Chief Justice, Ishida formed the National Congress to Achieve Legislation of the Gengo System in order to establish a law authorizing the Emperor to determine Japanese era names.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/02/14/archives/legalized-imperial-calendar-sought-by-japans-rightists.html|title=Legalized Imperial Calendar Sought by Japan's Rightists|date=1979-02-14|work=The New York Times|access-date=2019-03-26|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}

Ishida was a recipient of the Order of the Rising Sun and a member of the All Japan Kendo Federation.