 was the pen-name of , a Japanese "tanka" poet and novelist active during the Meiji period of Japan.
Biography.
Itō was born in what is now Sanmu city, Chiba prefecture, as the younger son to a farming family. He attended the "Meiji Hōritsu gakko" (the predecessor of Meiji University), but left without graduating.
His interest in poetry led him to visit the famous author Masaoka Shiki, who accepted him as a student. Itō established the literary magazine "Araragi" in 1903, and served as its editor until 1908. During this time, he published his poems, literary criticism and studies on the "Man'yōshū." He published a sentimental love story, "Nogiku no haka" ("The Wild Daisy", 1906) in the literary magazine "Hototogisu." The story became a popular classic, and was made into movies in 1955, 1966 and in 1981.
Itō came to be regarded as Masaoka Shiki's closest disciple with the posthumous publication of his "tanka" anthology "Sachio kashu" in 1920. His own disciples included Saitō Mokichi and Tsuchiya Bunmei.
In addition to his literary career, Itō was also an amateur master of the Japanese tea ceremony. He died of a cerebral hemorrhage.