Giga-cycle fatigue behavior of notched specimens with stress concentration factor, Kt of 1.5, 2.0 and 2.5 for 0.65 mass% carbon matrix high speed steel, YXR3 with Rockwell C scale hardness number of 60.7 is investigated. The higher the stress concentration factor the lower the giga-cycle fatigue strength is. The emphasis is placed upon the subsurface crack initiation observed on all notched specimens. Crack initiation mode of high speed steel is discussed with respect to fracture surface morphology.