Itō Sukeharu served as a bushō during the Sengoku and Azuchi-Momoyama periods.  He was a retainer of the Itō clan of Hyūga Province.

In 1572, at the Battle of Kizakibaru, Sukeharu established a position at Honjigahara and fought against Shimazu Yoshihiro but lost and retreated to Kobayashi.

In 1577, owing to an attack by the Shimazu clan, he was killed in action during the fall of an auxiliary base of the Itō known as Aya Castle.

In historical accounts of Hyūga, Sukeharu’s name appears among those who accompanied his lord, Itō Yoshisuke, when fleeing to Bungo Province so there is a theory that he died in the course of fleeing.

His eldest son, Itō Sukemasu (Mancio), converted to Christianity and served as one of the young emissaries who traveled to Europe in the Tenshō era.