Masanori Umeda graduated from the Kuwasawa Design School in Tokyo in 1962. In 1967, he moved to Milan and worked in the studio of Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni. From 1970 to 1979, he was a consultant for the design and furnishing systems studio at Olivetti, where he met Ettore Sottsass. In 1981, Umeda designed his most famous Memphis piece: the Tawaraya Ring, in which the founding members of the group were photographed by Studio Azzurro in a shot that became one of the most iconic Memphis images. A synthesis of East and West, Tawaraya combines, as a metaphor for conversation, a boxing ring with the tatami mats of traditional Japanese interiors.
