Hitohiro Saito

Hitohiro Saito
SAITO Hitohiro Sensei in Portugal by 2008
Born (1957-02-12) 12 February 1957 (age 67)
Iwama, Japan
Native name斎藤 仁弘 Saitō Hitohiro
NationalityJapan Japanese
StyleAikido
Teacher(s)Morihei Ueshiba and Morihiro Saito

Hitohiro Saito (斎藤 仁弘 Saitō Hitohiro, born 12 February 1957 in Iwama) is an aikido instructor and founding headmaster of Iwama Shin-Shin Aiki Shuren-kai.[1] Hitohiro is the son of Morihiro Saito. At age seven,[2] he started to learn aikido from Morihei Ueshiba, the founder of aikido, who cared for him as a grandson.[clarification needed][citation needed]. After Ueshiba died in 1969, he continued his practice with his father. The younger Saito became an official instructor of the Iwama dojo in 1986 and remained so until 2004 when he separated from the Aikikai organization and formed his own group. Since 2009 he is also identified as Hitohira (仁平) Saito.[3]