Photo: Nesnad / CC BY 4.0 (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
Seikō Itō's job description reads like a filing error: novelist, singer, lyricist, television personality, actor. Most people would struggle to hold down one of those. What makes him impossible to write off is that none of it looks like a hobby. He is routinely counted among the pioneers of Japanese-language hip hop, he has spent years touring Buddhist temples with the illustrator Jun Miura and turning that into comedy, and the literary prizes are real: the Kodansha Essay Award in 1999, the Noma Literary New Face Prize in 2013. He moves through his career like a man goofing off, and then the establishment hands him a trophy. Born in Katsushika, Tokyo in 1961 and trained in law at Waseda, he is well past sixty and still refuses to hold a fixed position. The refusal is the act.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Seikō Itō
- Name (Japanese)
- いとうせいこう
- Born
- March 19, 1961 (age 65)
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Pisces / Ox
- Origin
- Katsushika, Tokyo, Japan
- Height
- 170 cm
- Occupation
- novelist / singer / lyricist / tarento / actor
2. Background
- University
- School of Law, Waseda University
Awards & achievements
- 2013 Noma Literary New Face Prize
- 1999 Kodansha Essay Award
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
Frequently asked questions
When was Seikō Itō born?
Born March 19, 1961 (age 65).
Where is Seikō Itō from?
Seikō Itō is from Katsushika, Tokyo, Japan.
What does Seikō Itō do?
Seikō Itō works as novelist, singer, lyricist, tarento, actor.
How tall is Seikō Itō?
Seikō Itō is 170 cm.
Novelist — see all → · Singer — see all → · More people from Japan →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-07-27
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.