Ito Meizui
Japanese, 1889 - 1948
Person TypeIndividual
BiographyItō Meizui (伊藤 明瑞, 1889–1948) was a calligrapher. His actual name was Miyamoto Masaoto 宮本 正雄門. He was born in Wakayama City, Wakayama Prefecture. He began to study under the Chinese culture scholar Nankai Tetsuzan (南海鐵山, n.d.) at the age of two, and the following year, he displayed his knowledge to the former governor of Sakai Prefecture. He was called a child prodigy for having memorized works of classical literature from an early age. He was also considered a genius calligrapher. In 1894, at the age of five, he learned the calligraphy of Wang Xizhi and received a license to teach calligraphy. In 1895, he demonstrated his skills to the Meiji Emperor and was given the name Nippon Meiji 日本明瑞, the latter half of which is derived from the Mei 明of Meiji 明治 and the Zui 瑞of Zuisho 瑞祥 (meaning auspicious). He later became a student of Itō Hirobumi 伊藤博文 and came to call himself Itō Akira 伊藤明瑞. He lived in Akashi City from adolescence until his death, and during that time, he performed for the royal family, at government offices, at temples and at schools nationwide. He died in Akashi in 1948.