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(1776 September 6-1843 November 2) was a Japanese scholar, conventionally ranked as one of the four great men of ''Kokugaku'' (nativist) studies, and one of the most significant theologians of Shintō.
Though he is traditionally ranked fourth in the lineage of ''kokugaku'' scholars, Hirata actually represents a break with the purely scholarly urban culture characteristic of the revival of classical nativist learning. Hirata claimed to have received the mantle of kokugakusha in a dream directly from Motoori Norinaga, the greatest scholar in the field, but the story is apocryphal. His interest in kokugaku postdates Motoori's own death.
Though a scholar, he frequently expressed his hostility to the scholars of the day, especially Confucians and Buddhists, whose doctrines he attacked relentlessly. For Hirata had a populist message: he laid particular emphasis on reaching the average man (bonjin 凡人), and adapted his own style to them by employing at times the vernacular idiom. Dedicated to proselytizing what he believed were the ancient ways of Japan, as recovered by his own specific version of kokugaku, he established Yamatogokoro no gakumon. His public activities in this regard eventually attracted some 500 pupils, whose combined impact, once they dispersed and created their own regional influence, fueled the Shintoist revival during the Meiji Restoration
Hirata took part in the famous Shintoist Rites Research Council, whose creator noted:
:: "''We should research the ancient Shinto rites in detail and consider their application in administrative affairs in general and the common life of the nation.''"
Violently hostile to foreign ways of any description, and a fervent ideologist for the imperial cause, and for national purism, Hirata thought that the way of Shinto represented the earliest and most fundamental religion of all. His ideas were to prove deeply inspirational for the extremist caste of later Japanese nationalism and imperialism.

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''The Cambridge History of Japan'' vol.5 pp.199-206