(born Tokuyama, 1918–1990)
Hayashi’s family ran a well-established commercial photography studio in Yamaguchi Prefecture, where his mother worked as a portrait photographer. He took his first photo with a Piccolette, a German-made vest-pocket camera, and served as the photographer for the yearbook at Tokuyama Business School. After moving to Tokyo and graduating from the Oriental School of Photography in 1938, Hayashi apprenticed at the Nakayama Shoichi Photo Studio in Ashiya, Hyogo Prefecture. He began his career as a photojournalist, first publishing his work in 1940 and joining the Japan News Photography Association the following year.
After establishing the North China News Photography Association and working for the Japanese embassy in Beijing from 1942 to 1946, Hayashi was prolific in documenting postwar life on Tokyo’s streets. His work was published in numerous magazines from 1946 to 1955 and later collected under the series Kasutori jidai (Days in the Dregs/The Rotgut Period). Hayashi was also known for his portraits of important literary figures and as a founding member of the Ginryusha Photography Group (1947), Japan Professional Photographers Society (1950), and Nikakai Photography Section (1953). He served as headmaster of the Japan School of Photography between 1980 and 1989.
Works in Japan Modern:
