was a bureaucrat, politician and entrepreneur in late Meiji and early Taishō period

Empire of Japan The Empire of Japan, also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was the Japanese nation state that existed from the Meiji Restoration on January 3, 1868, until the Constitution of Japan took effect on May 3, 1947. From Japan–Kor ...

. He is noted for his involvement in the development of the

South Manchurian Railway The South Manchuria Railway (; ), officially , Mantetsu () or Mantie () for short, was a large of the Empire of Japan whose primary function was the operation of railways on the Dalian– Fengtian (Mukden)–Changchun (called Xinjing from ...

Biography

Hayakawa was born in

Kanazawa is the capital of Ishikawa Prefecture in central Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 466,029 in 203,271 households, and a population density of 990 persons per km2. The total area of the city was . Etymology The name "Kanazaw ...

Ishikawa Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu island. Ishikawa Prefecture has a population of 1,096,721 (1 January 2025) and has a geographic area of 4,186 Square kilometre, km2 (1,616 sq mi). Ishikawa Pr ...

. He graduated from the Law School of

Tokyo Imperial University The University of Tokyo (, abbreviated as in Japanese and UTokyo in English) is a public university, public research university in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1877 as the nation's first modern university by the merger of several Edo peri ...

in 1887. In January 1890, he was hired by the

Ministry of Finance A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfoli ...

, and became a director of the

Bank of Japan The is the central bank of Japan.Louis Frédéric, Nussbaum, Louis Frédéric. (2005). "Nihon Ginkō" in The bank is often called for short. It is headquartered in Nihonbashi, Chūō, Tokyo, Chūō, Tokyo. The said bank is a corporate entity ...

in 1899. After leaving public service, Hayakawa became director of the

Mitsui Bank was a major Japanese bank from 1876 to 1990. The home bank of the Mitsui conglomerate, it was one of the largest Japanese banks for much of the 20th century, together with Dai-Ichi Bank, Mitsubishi Bank, Sumitomo Bank, and Yasuda / Fuji Bank. I ...

in 1901, and chairman of the board in 1909. With the creation of the Mitsui Gomei ''

zaibatsu is a Japanese language, Japanese term referring to industrial and financial vertical integration, vertically integrated business conglomerate (company), conglomerates in the Empire of Japan, whose influence and size allowed control over signifi ...

'' through the merger of Mitsui Bank with Mitsui Trading, he became vice director in 1918. He left Mitsui the following year to become director of the

Bank of Chōsen The Bank of Chōsen (, ''Joseon Eunhaeng''), known from 1909 to 1911 as the Bank of Korea ( ''Kankoku Ginkō'', ''Hanguk Eunhaeng'') and transcribed after 1945 as Bank of Joseon, was a colonial bank that served as bank of issue for Korea under J ...

. From 1920-1922 he was an appointed member of the House of Peers. In May 1921, he also became President of the

South Manchurian Railway Company The South Manchuria Railway (; ), officially , Mantetsu () or Mantie () for short, was a large of the Empire of Japan whose primary function was the operation of railways on the Dalian– Fengtian (Mukden)–Changchun (called Xinjing from ...

, and died in office due to a stroke in October 1922. Hayakawa was a close friend of Inazō Nitobe and

Tsuda Umeko was a Japanese educator who founded Tsuda University. She was the daughter of Tsuda Sen, an agricultural scientist, and at the age of 7, she became Japan's first female exchange student, traveling to the U.S. on the same ship as the Iwakura ...

, and assisted their efforts in promoting the education of women in Japan through the establishment of a non-profit charity foundation. Hayakawa, a prominent lay Buddhist, and student of the

Zen Zen (; from Chinese: ''Chán''; in Korean: ''Sŏn'', and Vietnamese: ''Thiền'') is a Mahayana Buddhist tradition that developed in China during the Tang dynasty by blending Indian Mahayana Buddhism, particularly Yogacara and Madhyamaka phil ...

abbot of

Engaku-ji , or Engaku-ji (円覚寺), is one of the most important Zen Buddhist temple complexes in Japan and is ranked second among Kamakura's Five Mountains. It is situated in the city of Kamakura, in Kanagawa Prefecture to the south of Tokyo. Founded ...

, Suzuki Daisetsu, also founded the ''Kochokan'', a boarding house for samurai-descended students from Ishikawa Prefecture in Tokyo.

References

* Morikawa Hidemasa. ''The Organizational Structure of the Mitsubishi and Mitsui Zaibatsu 1968-1922''. Hosei University * Kasuya, Makoto. ''Coping with Crisis: International Financial Institutions in the Interwar Period''. Oxford University Press (2000). . Pg 87 *Sawada, Janine Anderson. ''Practical Pursuits: Religion, Politics, and Personal Cultivation in Nineteenth Century Japan''. University of Hawaii Press (2004). {{DEFAULTSORT:Hayakawa, Senkichiro 1863 births 1922 deaths Members of the House of Peers (Japan) People of the Meiji era University of Tokyo alumni Politicians from Ishikawa Prefecture