Tokihiro Sato was born in Yamagata in 1957. He studied sculpture at Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music. Sato made his initial photos by tracing his sculptures with a penlight, creating "light sculptures." Sato's use of light, coupled with his own movement animates his chosen subjects of landscapes, urban scenes, and interiors. In 1989 he won the silver prize at the Japan Professional Photographers Society exhibition. His exhibitions have been held at the Liquid Crystal Futures in Edinburgh (1994), he Havana Biennale (1997), the Art Institute of Chicago, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York; the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art, Toronto, the Queensland Art Gallery in Brisbane, and the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography. His works can be found in the permanent collections of the Hara Museum of Contemporary Art in Tokyo and the Art Institute of Chicago. He currently teaches at the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music.