in 2005, itano joined the japanese idol girl group akb48 as part of the first team, team a. she also modeled for the women's fashion magazine "cawaii!", and released her first photo book titled "t.o.m.o.row" in april 2009. in early 2010, she played shibuya in akb48's tv tokyo drama "majisuka gakuen". she had a recurring role on "kamen rider w" as queen, alongside fellow akb48 performer tomomi kasai, until the show ended in late 2010. together, they made up the sub-unit queen & elizabeth. in akb48's 2010 general election, she placed fourth overall.