Born in Yamanashi in 1956, he graduated from the Department of Product Design at Tama Art University. As an in-house designer, he devoted himself to the design of microelectronic devices, including watches.
In 1989, Fukasawa moved to the United States and joined IDEO, a rare move for a Japanese product designer at the time. This was a time when Silicon Valley was experiencing rapid growth in computer technology, and Fukasawa focused primarily on designing computers and electronics for Silicon Valley companies, medical equipment, furniture, and sporting goods. In 1996, he returned to Japan, where he established and headed IDEO's Tokyo office.