Takako Saito is a Japanese artist, born in Sabae-Shi, Fukui Province in Japan in 1929. Closely associated with Fluxus, the international collective of avant-garde artists that was active primarily in the 1960s and 1970s, she currently lives in Düsseldorf in Germany. She is most famous for her Silent Music piece and for her disrupted Chess sets. Whilst studying psychology at the Japan Women's University, Saito became involved with Sōzō Biiku undŏ, the 'Creative Art Education' movement. Founded by Teijirŏ Kubo after World War II, the movement focussed on encouraging creativity through free will. Whilst attending a summer camp organized by the movement, Saito met a Tokyo member Ay-O, an artist actively engaged in encouraging avant-garde groups in Japan. Ay-O became an important source of information for Saito about the avant-garde, first in Tokyo, and then, later, in New York, where he moved in 1958 ^[1]. Intrigued by the reports being sent back by Ay-O, Saito also travelled to New York in 1963 ostensibly to work as an assistant to textile wholesaler. It was through Ay-O that she was introduced to George Maciunas, founder and organiser of Fluxus, and one of the central members of the New York avant-garde.

George Maciunas was fascinated by Japanese craftsmanship, and asked Saito if she could make a few boxes for him in the same style as a number of Japanese boxes he already owned; He was so impressed with her craftmanship that he asked her to contribute a series of disrupted chess sets to sell in his new Flux shop on Canal Street, SoHo, New York. Maciunas was so delighted by Spice Chess in particular that he 'even took credit for it on occasion.' Saito remained a close friend and fluxus collaborator until Maciunas' death. After a while, Maciunas proposed having dinner together every evening. In his opinion, buying food for many was more economical than buying for one... He called it Flux Dinner Commune. So George, Paik, Takako, Shigeko and Mieko Shiomi started this part-time collective life. For the first few days, the men went shopping and the girls cooked. However they found it inconvenient, because George came back rather late from his office and then often didn't buy what the others wanted to cook.... It didn't last long, because all got jobs at night. George was discouraged, but bravely said, Well, work comes first, dinner second.
Saito remained part of the Fluxus movement throughout the 1960s and 70s, producing performance, still, multi-media, installation and sculptural work in collaboration with other artists such as George Maciunas and Yoko Ono. Saito has contributed pieces to many Fluxus collaborations, including Fluxus 1 (1964) and the Flux Cabinet (1975–77). She is perhaps most well known for her "Silent Music" piece. Her output was diverse and she is also remembered for the various disrupted chess sets including Smell Chess and Spice Chess, that she manufactured to sell in the Fluxshop, SoHo, New York, and that were often included in the Flux Boxes from 1964 onwards, which was part of a Fluxus series of game variations of Chess. Since 1978, Saito has lived and worked in Düsseldorf.