Noritsugu Hayakawa

Early life

Hayakawa was born into a family of politicians in Miyosaki, Yamanashi Prefecture, in 1881.

Early career in rail transport

Hayakawa studied law at Waseda University and made the bold move of sending an article he wrote about national policy to the statesman Shinpei Goto, who had been serving as head of South Manchuria Railway (Mantetsu), leading to Goto offered him a job as his secretary and starting Hayakawa's career in the railway industry. Hayakawa worked for Mantetsu before moving to Japan's Railway Bureau, following in the steps of Goto, who proved to be not only a major influence but also a source of connections to powerful people in Imperial Japan. Hayakawa subsequently worked for several railroads in Japan.

Later life and death

After the hostile takeover of the Tokyo Underground Railway, Hayakawa returned to his hometown at Yamanashi. Hayakawa had planned to build a youth dōjō there to develop talent in his hometown. Upon his return, progress on the dojo went under way. However, Hayakawa never lived to see the completion of the dojo as he died in 1942 at an age of 61.