Yoshiaki Hatta
八田 嘉明
Hatta in the 1950s
Minister of Transport and Communications
In office 1 November 1943 – 19 February 1944
Prime Minister	Hideki Tojo
Preceded by	Office established
Succeeded by	Keita Gotō
Minister of Communications
In office 8 October 1943 – 1 November 1943
Prime Minister	Hideki Tojo
Preceded by	Ken Terajima
Succeeded by	Sasayoshi Hitotsumatsu (1946)
Minister of Railways
In office 2 December 1941 – 1 November 1943
Prime Minister	Hideki Tojo
Preceded by	Ken Terajima
Succeeded by	Office abolished
Minister of Commerce and Industry
In office 5 January 1939 – 30 August 1939
Prime Minister	Hiranuma Kiichirō
Preceded by	Ikeda Shigeaki
Succeeded by	Takuo Godō
Minister of Colonial Affairs
In office 29 October 1938 – 5 January 1939
Prime Minister	Fumimaro Konoe
Preceded by	Fumimaro Konoe
Succeeded by	Kuniaki Koiso
Member of the House of Peers
In office 1 July 1929 – 8 February 1946 Nominated by the Emperor
Personal details
Born	(1879-09-14)14 September 1879 Tokyo, Japan
Died	26 April 1964(1964-04-26) (aged 84)
Party	Independent
Alma mater	Tokyo Imperial University

Yoshiaki Hatta (八田 嘉明, Hatta Yoshiaki; 14 September 1879 – 26 April 1964), was an engineer, entrepreneur, politician and cabinet minister in the Empire of Japan, serving as a member of the Upper House of the Diet of Japan, and five times as a cabinet minister.

Hatta was born in Tokyo, and was a graduate from Tokyo Imperial University with a degree in civil engineering. He was employed by the San'yō Railway from 1903. However, he was recruited into the government bureaucracy, and transferred a position within the Railroad Bureau of the Ministry of Communications in 1906. After the Railway Ministry was created, Hatta was appointed a Director in 1926. He was further awarded with a seat in the House of Peers from 1929.

With the creation of the South Manchurian Railway Company (SMR), Hatta was appointed Vice President in 1932. He reorganized the management of the SMR, favoring increased cooperation with the Kwantung Army after the Manchurian Incident.^[1] He also encouraged French investment in the construction of the new capital of Manchukuo, Shinkyo^[2]

In 1934, under the Hiranuma Cabinet, Hatta was asked to serve as both Minister of Commerce and as Minister of Colonial Affairs. He was also made head of the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Tokyo Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

In 1941, many small private railway companies were merged under government pressure into the Tobu Railway, as per the syndicalist economic policies of the Taisei Yokusankai. Hatta was appointed Chairman of the Board of the expanded company. In 1943, he was asked to serve concurrently as Minister of Communications and Railroad Minister, this time under the Tōjō Cabinet. During this administration, the two cabinet-level posts were merged into the new Ministry of Transport and Communications in 1943, and Hatta became the first head of the combined ministry. In 1945, Hatta became president of the North China Development Company, a subsidiary of the South Manchurian Railway dedicated to the economic development of the areas of northern China under occupation by Japan.

Following the surrender of Japan and the end of World War II, Hatta was purged from public office by the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers. In 1953, he became president of Takushoku University, a post which he held to September 1954.^[3] In 1955, he became president of Nippei Kōsan Corporation, and Chairman of the Japan Science Foundation. In 1956, he founded the Nippon Gijustu Kyōwa Kaihatsu Corporation, and in 1957 he was named chairman of the forerunner to the Japan Highway Public Corporation. Hatta died in 1964.

• Ito, Takeo (1988). Life Along the South Manchurian Railway: The Memoirs of Itō Takeo. M E Sharpe. ISBN 087332465X.
• Victoir, Laura (2013). Harbin to Hanoi: The Colonial Built Environment in Asia, 1840 to 1940. Hong Kong University Press. ISBN 978-9888139415.