Towa is a third-generation
Korean-Japanese. Towa began making demo tapes at the age of 16 having bought his first synthesizer, a
Korg MS-10. While studying at
Musashino Art University Junior College of Art and Design, he sent his tape to a radio program of
Ryuichi Sakamoto titled
Sound Street. In 1987, Towa moved to the U.S. to study graphic design and joined house act
Deee-Lite, a trio with Supa DJ Dimitry and
Lady Miss Kier, enjoying almost instant success after debuting in 1990 with their album
World Clique and the single "
Groove Is In the Heart". In 1991, Towa collaborated with his idol
Ryuichi Sakamoto on Sakamoto's album
Heartbeat. He also appeared on Sakamoto's follow up album
Sweet Revenge. In 1994, Towa returned to Japan after seven years in New York. He debuted as a solo act with
Future Listening! that same year, incorporating an array of styles, including electronic, bossa nova, house, jazz and pop. It featured collaborations with
Joi Cardwell,
Bebel Gilberto,
MC Kinky,
Hiroshi Takano,
Ryuichi Sakamoto,
Haruomi Hosono, Toshihiko Mori,
Satoshi Tomiie, Yuichi Oki of
Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra and
Pizzicato Five vocalist
Maki Nomiya.
Sound Museum followed in 1997, then
Last Century Modern in 1999. 2002 brought the album
Towa Tei, under the pseudonym
Sweet Robots Against the Machine.
Flash surfaced in 2005 by which time Towa was DJing regularly in Japan. He has admitted, though, that he does not enjoy performing and prefers producing and using computers.
Big Fun, featuring
Verbal and
Mademoiselle Yulia, was released in 2009 and was the third album to feature the artwork of San Franciscan painter and
graffiti artist Barry McGee. For the album, Towa utilized
MySpace to collaborate with artists from around the world, even if he didn't know them, such as with German act Taprikk Sweezee. Another collaborator he worked with for
Big Fun was
Miho Hatori of
Cibo Matto, though they also met only on MySpace. Towa has established his own creative company,
hug inc, which, among other things, manufactures his trademark sunglasses. ==Awards and nominations==