Itou Keikaku (伊藤 計劃), known as Project Itoh, was a Japanese sci-fi writer and essayist whose real name was Itou Satoshi (伊藤 聡).

Birth and education: October 14, 1974 – March 20, 2009

He grew up in Tokyo and studied at the Department of Imaging Arts and Sciences at Musashino Art University. While working as a web designer, he wrote what would become his breakthrough novel, Genocidal Organ. He submitted it to the Komatsu Sakyō Award contest in 2006; though it didn't win, Hayakawa Publishing picked it up and released it in 2007, earning a Nihon SF Taisho Award nomination. A decade-later survey by SF guidebook SF ga yomitai ranked Genocidal Organ as the best domestic sci-fi novel of the 2000s.

His other major work, Harmony, fared even better in retrospective assessments—S-F Magazine's all-time best poll in 2014 placed it at the top of Japanese sci-fi novels.

Itou struggled with recurring cancer starting in 2001 and spent long stretches hospitalized. He died at 34. Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker and the final chapter of manga Aki Sora were both dedicated to his memory.

Collaboration and legacy: Toh Enjoe, a fellow sci-fi writer whose debut Self-Reference ENGINE also came out in 2007, became a close collaborator and friend. The two appeared frequently together at conventions and co-worked on several projects. After winning the Akutagawa Prize, Enjoe publicly committed to finishing Itou's unfinished novel Shisha no teikoku. It was published in August 2012 and won a Special Award at the Nihon SF Taisho Award.