Toyoo Tamamura was born in Suginami-ku, Tokyo in 1945. In 1971, Tamamura graduated from the French Literature department at Tokyo University. While enrolled at Tokyo University as a student, he spent two years abroad in France, studying at Paris University's Linguistics Research Center. His career was in writing, until an illness in 1987 prompted him to return to painting, a skill he had put aside after high school. His first solo exhibit opened at "Gallery Hara” in Ueno city, Nagano Prefecture. Toyoo Tamamura has lived in the town of Toubu, Nagano prefecture, since 1991.