Please answer the following question: Facts: - teacher: morihei ueshiba - death place: iwama , ibaraki prefecture , japan - relatives: hitohiro saito - native name: '' saito morihiro '' - death cause: of cancer - death date: 13 may 2002 - martial art: aikido - birth date: 31 march 1928 - native lang: jp - name: morihiro saito - nationality: jpn japanese - birth place: ibaraki prefecture , japan - rank: '' shihan '' , 9th '' dan '' Based on these bullet points, write a short biography describing the life of morihiro saito .
A:
morihiro saito -lrb- '' saito morihiro '' , march 31 , 1928 -- may 13 , 2002 -rrb- was a teacher of the japanese martial art of aikido , with many students around the world .saito 's practice of aikido spanned 56 years , from the age of 18 , when he first met aikido founder morihei ueshiba , until his death in 2002 .