Sei Itō


Sei Itō a.k.a. Hitoshi Itō was a Japanese poet, novelist, and translator.

Life and works

His original name was "Hitoshi", but he changed it at an early point. In 1926 he was published for the first time with a collection of poetry. As his career progressed, he showed Western influences and in 1950 he caused controversy by translating Lady Chatterley's Lover into Japanese. In 1963 he won the "Kikuchi Kan Prize". His novels include The Life of Goro Tokuno and Town and Village. In addition he wrote a six-volume history of Japanese literature.