Hideo Itokawa (糸川英夫) (1912–1999) was a pioneer of Japanese rocketry and the Japanese space program.

He was born in Tokyo on July 20, 1912 and graduated from the Imperial University of Tokyo majoring in Aeronautical engineering in 1935. During war, he was involved in designing aircrafts in Nakajima Aircraft Company and designed Nakajima Ki-43 Hayabusa. He became an assitant professor of the Imperial University of Tokyo in 1941. He became a professor in 1948. He retires from the post in 1967 and establishes an institute.

Itokawa was a genius skipping elementary grades and studied many topics. He wrote 49 books becoming the best selling author several times. Topics he became interested in or took as a hobby are:

• Basketball
• Baton Twirling
• Brain waves
• Cello
• Classic Vallet Dancing
• English Plays
• Golf
• Harmonica
• Mah Jong
• Orchestra arrangement
• Organ
• Piano
• Philosophy
• Rocket Engineering
• Suicide
• Swimming
• Taishokin - a type of xylophone
• Violin
• Writing novels
• Xylophone

Bibliography

• Gyakuten no Hasso
• Hachijussai no Aria
• Koya wo Yuku

The asteroid 25143 Itokawa is named after him.