Hayashi Shihei(林 子平, August 6, 1738 - July 28, 1793) was a Japanese military scholar and a retainer of the Sendai Domain. His name is sometimes misread (according to the Sino-Japanese reading) as Rin Shihei.

Shihei was born the second son of Hayashi Gonhyoue Yoshimichi, a hatamoto who served the Tokugawa shogunate. However Yoshimichi was expelled for some reason; some argue it was the result of a conflict with his colleagues (perhaps a duel). After that, Shihei was brought up by his uncle Hayashi Jyugo, a physician. He spent most of his life in his bedroom. He wrote a poem called "Six No's", which reads: "I have no parents, no wife, no son, no block for printing, no money, and I wish for 'no death'."