Irie Kuichi ("Sugikura") was born on April 5, 1837, the eldest son of a lower-class Choshu samurai (a common foot soldier). He worked as a subordinate of the han starting from the age of thirteen. After his father died in the summer of his nineteenth year, he went to work the following spring at the Choshu clan residence in Edo to pay off housekeeping expenses.

Yoshida Shoin, hearing of this remarkable young man Sugikura, invited Irie to his Shoka Sonjuku through Yoshida Toshimaro (unrelated to Shoin) in early fall of Irie's twentieth year. However, at that time, Irie was still in Edo on official business, so he was unable to enter the school until the following summer, when he was twenty-one. He, along with Takasugi Shinsaku, Kusaka Genzui, and Yoshida Toshimaro, soon became known as the "Shi Tennou" (literally Four Sky Lords), or the "Big Four" of Shoin's School Under the Pines.

Irie was one of the most loyal and upright of Shoin's students; under Shoin's influence he became an avid supporter of sonno-joi and the other various pro-emperor, anti-foreigner movements. He was one of the few who followed his teacher to the very end. Soon after Shoin's execution, Irie was implicated in an attempt to leave the Choshu clan and become a ronin, and was thrown into prison. He was helped by Kusaka Genzui after his release, and became one of the principle members of another village private school under Kusaka's superintendence.

From this point, Irie became more and more active in the cause for overthrowing the Bakufu. In 1861, he dressed up as a beggar to gather information and scout out the general opinion of the Mito han, and went to Kyoto the following year. Early in 1863, his services were recognized and he was promoted from his common foot soldier status and allowed a last name, thus becoming "Irie Kuichi." That same year, he aided Takasugi Shinsaku in the founding of the Kiheitai, "Extraordinary Corps," as one of the staff members. He was in charge of information gathering for the next few months, and hid in the Kyousaka district until early summer of 1864. He died in battle at the Kinmon no Hen incident later that summer at the age of 27.

This information was translated by HItomi Shimizu for this site.