his early works were direct reflections of traditional ukiyo-e both in subject matter and in style, his technique was revolutionary. Ito would paint a "master painting" in watercolors, and dedicated craftsmen would make the actual prints from this "master copy". Itō was thus a pioneer in the shin-hanga movement. Watanabe and Itō continued their business cooperation into the 1960s, and Watanabe exported thousands of Shinsui prints, generating great success for them both. During the Pacific War, Itō was drafted by the Japanese government into producing propaganda art. He was sent to the South Pacific and Japanese-occupied Netherlands East Indies, and completed over 3000 sketches during his travels to various islands under Japanese rule. At the end of the war, he relocated from the ruins of Tokyo to Komoro in the mountains of Nagano Prefecture. He relocated from there to Kamakura, Kanagawa, in 1949. In the post-war period Itō came to be regarded as one of the best known and respected personalities in Japanese society, and received several important honors during his lifetime. In 1952 the "Commission for the Protection of Cultural Properties" (Bunkazai Hōgō Iinkai) declared his woodblock designing talent to be of "intangible cultural properties" (mukei bunkazai) which was then the equivalent of being declared a Living National Treasure. In 1958, he became a member of the Japan Art Academy. In 1970, he received the Order of the Rising Sun. One of Itō's works, Yubi, ("Finger") was the subject of the 1974 Philatelic Week commemorative postage stamp issued by the Japanese post office. Another work, Fubuki ("Blizzard") was depicted on a 1983 Japanese commemorative postage stamp as part of the Modern Japanese Arts series. Itō's daughter, Yukiji Asaoka, is an actress and singer. Itō died in 1972 of cancer. His grave is at the temple of Ryūsō-in in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Major works Eight Views of Lake Biwa – 1917–1918 Twelve Figures of New Beauties – 1922–1923 Collection of Modern Beauties – 1929–1931 Twelve Views of Ōshima – 1937–1938 Three Views of Mount Fuji – 1938–1939 Ten Views of Shinano – 1948 Incense Party (聞香, Monkō) - 1950 His work is held in several museums worldwide, including the Virginia Museum of Fine Art, the Toledo Museum of Art, the Hiroshima Museum of Art, the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, the Minneapolis Institute of Art, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the University of Michigan Museum of Art, the Indianapolis