He was the son of Kimiye Iijima and architect Tamekichi Ito who was educated at the University of Washington; he was one of nine children, and the brother of director Koreya Senda.

After learning musical theory using Dalcroze eurhythmics in Hellerau in Germany, he started to explore modern dance.

He was an associate of William Butler Yeats, Ezra Pound, Angna Enters, Isamu Noguchi, Louis Horst, Ted Shawn, Martha Graham, Lillian Powell, Vladimir Rosing, Pauline Koner, Madame Sonia Serova, Lester Horton and others.

He was particularly well-known for "The Pinwheel Review" (1923) and for being a headliner in William Collier's "Ching-a-Ling Revue" (1927) which featured many well-known performers such as: the Three Meyakos (whose real names were Esther, Florence and George Kudara); Hisako Koine; and J. Ah Chung and E. Don Sang (formerly vaudeville performers in the Chung Hwa Four).

Itō and the club's chairman supplied the permits and approvals they had received along with arguments that the dancing on stage exempted them from the current regulations.

[15] In 1939, Itō surprised many when he assisted Sally Rand, one of his former students, with a benefit to support a repertory dance theater group.

[16] Earlier the previous year he choreographed the "Dance of the Peacock" for her movie The Sunset Murder Case (1938).

After Japan surrendered in 1945, he was chosen to manage the Ernie Pyle Theatre which was created by the United States to entertain American troops.

"Fantasy Japonica" was his first production there, "Jungle Drums" (1946), "Sakura Flowers" (1947) and "Rhapsody In Blue" (1947) performances also received press attention.

[24] The Ernie Pyle continued as an American Theatre until after his death; finally closing in 1966 and reverting to the original Japanese owners.

Articles reveal that he had plans for the Olympic torch bearers to leave Greece following the path of Marco Polo to Japan.