[1] She was born into an aristocratic family and convinced an uncle to pay for her education at Ueno Girls High School in Tokyo, from which she graduated.

It was during her second summer vacation, in 1910, at Ueno Girls School that her family pressured her to marry Suematsu Fukutaro, a man who had recently returned to Kyushu from the United States.

Itō wanted her own complete freedom, so she immediately started to plot a way to escape the relationship and make her home in Tokyo.

She made a major move in her life to Tokyo, marrying an ex-teacher, Tsuji Jun, whom she had met at Ueno Girls High School.

Itō joined the Bluestocking Society (青鞜社 Seitō-sha), as producer of the feminist arts-and-culture magazine Seitō (青鞜) in 1915, contributing until 1916.

In her last year as Editor-in-Chief,[3] she practiced an inclusive attitude towards content; she "opened the pages to extended discussions of abortion, prostitution, free love and motherhood".

[6] The narratives in Itō's stories held common themes: they were all influenced by her own thoughts on her political and personal beliefs, painting a vivid literary picture of the issues afflicting her at the time.

[2] "Tenki", another one of her stories published by Seitō, dealt with more of her own issues, as the main protagonist is drawn to social activism while her marriage proves to be an obstacle.

[5] Under Itō, Seitō became more concerned with social issues than it had been before, and in 1914–16, she engaged in a debate on the pages of the magazine with another feminist, Yamakawa Kikue, about whether prostitution should be legalized or not.

[7] Itō wrote social criticism and novels, and translated socialist and anarchist writings from English to Japanese, from authors such as American Emma Goldman (The Tragedy of Woman's Emancipation, etc.).

[8] In February 1916, Seitō published its last edition due to a lack of funds, as the government had prevented distributors from carrying the magazine.

[10] Itō's passion for Ōsugi became evident in February 1916, when she went walking with him in a Tokyo park, holding his hand, and kissed him in public; at the time, kissing in public and couples holding hands in Japan were considered to be deeply immoral acts that no decent person should ever engage in, and many people in the park chided the couple for their behavior.

[13] Beginning in 1916, Ito lived and worked with Ōsugi, and continued to rise in the feminist group while showing growing leadership potential.

[9] On September 16, 1923, according to writer and activist Harumi Setouchi, Itō, Ōsugi, and his 6-year-old nephew Munekazu (born in Portland, Oregon) were arrested, strangled to death, and thrown into an abandoned well by a squad of military police (known as the Kenpeitai) led by Lieutenant Masahiko Amakasu.