Masanori Umeda (born 1941 in Kanagawa, Japan) graduated from Tokyo's Kuwasawa School of Design in 1962.  In 1967, he went to live in Milan and work in the studio of Achille + Pier Giacomo Castiglioni.  Throughout the 1970s, he was a design consultant to Italian manufacturer Olivetti.  In the 1980s, Umeda created several objects for the design collective Memphis Milano; in the early 1990s, the designer created several now iconic furniture designs for Italian manufacturer, Edra.