Kazumasa Nagai was born in Osaka in 1929. In 1960, he became a member of the newly founded Nippon Design Center. Starting in 1966, during his career he has received a host of awards and honors, including a Warsaw International Poster Biennale Gold Prize, International Biennial of Graphic Design Brno Grand Prize, Tokyo ADC Grand Prize, Yusaku Kamekura Design Award, Masaru Katsumi Prize, Mainichi Design Award and Mainichi Art Award. Mr. Nagai has also received several honors from the Japanese Government: the Minister of Education Award for Fine Arts, Medal with Purple Ribbon, and Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette.