Fukasawa was born in Kōfu, Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan in 1956. He studied product design at Tama Art University graduating in 1980.After graduating, Fukasawa worked as a product developer at Seiko Epson until 1988, before joining the design firm ID Two, a predecessor to the design consulting firm IDEO in San Francisco, California, for whom he later established a Tokyo office in 1996.During this time he collaborated with the English industrial designer Sam Hecht. In 2002, Fukasawa became a MUJI advisory board member, and worked on the development of many of their products.After leaving IDEO, he established his own independent firm Naoto Fukasawa Design in 2003.In the same year, Fukasawa founded the “±0” (Plus Minus Zero) brand of household electrical appliances and household products, focused on the design of goods that are felt to be “just right”. In recent years, he has several Italian furniture companies including B&B Italia, Driade, Magis, Artemide, Danese, and Boffi, as well several in Germany and Northern Europe.
He is one of the co-directors of 21 21 DESIGN SIGHT, Japan’s first design museum. Since 2012, he has been the director of the Japan Folk Crafts Museum.
Since 2014, Fukasawa has taught Integrated Design at Tama Art University as a professor, and previously taught at Musashino Art University.
Many of his works are included in the permanent collection at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) including, MUJI’s Wall-mounted Compact Disc Player (1999), Neon Cellular Phone by KDDI Corporation (2005), and Infobar Cellular Phone by KDDI Corporation (2003).
