Sawai was born on Feb. 18, 1931 in Takamatsu, Japan. He learned English while working as a cook’s assistant at the U.S. military headquarters and he moved to the United States to study at the Lutheran Bible Institute. Shortly after his arrival, he was diagnosed with tuberculosis and spent the next nine years at a TB hospital in San Antonio, Texas.

Once he was discharged, Sawai moved to Minnesota to resume his studies, first at Augsburg College, where he received a Bachelor of Arts in 1966, and then at the University of Minnesota, where he received his Master of Fine Arts in 1969. He moved back to Japan briefly in 1971, where he studied traditional woodblock printmaking but later that year he was back in Canada, taking a position in the University of Calgary’s Department of Art. Sawai taught printmaking and drawing in the department for 22 years, until he retired in 1993.
Sawai went on to establish a printmaking studio in Vancouver. He was internationally known for making erotic art, using imagery from diverse time periods, traditions, and cultures. Noboru also extended his interests to papermaking, and made several visits to Japan over the years to learn about and experiment with making his own handmade paper.

He taught woodblock techniques to the Inuit in Cape Dorset, Pangnirtung and Baker Lake, and his work has been shown in numerous exhibitions and competitions, and is in major public and private collections across Canada, the U.S. and Europe.
Sawai was a member of the Alberta Artist Association, the Japan Printmakers Association, the Malaspina Printmakers Society, and the Print and Drawing Council of Canada.