( Japan 丨 1941 - )

Masanori Umeda was one of three Japanese members of Memphis Group, and who designed the famous Tawaraya boxing ring for Memphis.

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 Olivetti where he met Ettore Sottsass. In 1981 Umeda designed his most famous Memphis piece: the Tawaraya boxing ring, in which the founding members of Memphis group were photographed by Studio Azzurro.

Umeda returned to Japan in 1986 and opened his U-MetaDesign Studio (now Umeda Design Studio Inc.) in Tokyo. He continues to design a lot of postmodern and poetically playful furniture. He participated in several international exhibitions and won the BraunPrize in 1968, and the Japan Commercial Space Design Award in 1984.