Shin Hirayama was born in Edo (now Tokyo) and the second son of a former guard of the Shogun.

He was a disciple of astronomer and mathematician Hisashi Terao, and finished the course of astronomy at the Tokyo Imperial University in 1890.

He also attended lectures in Berlin and Leipzig during his stay in the country.

[1] In March of 1900, Shin Hirayama discovered 498 Tokio and 727 Nipponia.

He also suggested "Nippon", as a name for 727 Nipponia, and its discoverer Adam Massinger named the minor planet "Nipponia" — a Latin feminized form of the word "Nippon" — in his honor.