We introduce and study a new class of Drazin inverses. An element a in a ring has Hirano inverse b if a 2 −ab ∈ N (R), ab = ba and b = bab. Every Hirao inverse of an element is its Drazin inverse. We derive several characterizations for this generalized inverse. An element a ∈ R has Hirano inverse if and only if a 2 has strongly Drazin inverse, if and only if a − a 3 ∈ N (R). If 1 2 ∈ R, we prove that a ∈ R has Hirano inverse if and only if there exists p 3 = p ∈ comm 2 (a) such that a − p ∈ N (R), if and only if there exist two idempotents e, f ∈ comm 2 (a) such that a + e − f ∈ N (R). Clines formula and additive results for this generalized inverse are thereby obtained.2010 Mathematics Subject Classification. 15A09, 16E50, 15A23.