Hayashi Tatsuo was an intellectual and literary critic who wrote many books about the history of civilization, culture, and the Occidental mind. He was born in Tokyo but spent his youth in Seattle with his diplomat father. After high school in Kyoto, he studied philosophy under Nishida Kitaro (1870– 1945) at Kyoto University. Following his graduation, he became a professor of cultural history at Toyo University and also taught at Tsudajuku and Hosei universities and was on the editing committees of philosophical journals. After World War II, Hayashi became chief of the Chuo Koron publishing house. Opposed to socialist idealogy, he was awarded the Asahi Cultural Prize in 1973 for his research and writings on the Occidental mind. Hayashi died of old age in Kanagawa Prefecture.
Historical dictionary of modern Japanese literature and theater. J. Scott Miller. 2009.