Naoto Fukasawa was born in Yamanashi, Japan, in 1956 and graduated in product design from Tama Art University. He worked at Seiko Epson and spent seven years with ID Two, now IDEO, in San Francisco before setting up IDEO's Tokyo office. In 2003 he founded Naoto Fukasawa Design. His work is known for simplicity and quiet, intuitive forms, for brands such as Muji, B&B Italia and Maruni. He leads the Japan Folk Crafts Museum and received the Isamu Noguchi Award in 2018.