M.F.A. in Art Environment, Kyoto University of the Arts

Spending his childhood in Okinawa with a big family and life in the Americanized culture of Okinawa after the reversion to mainland Japan seemed very bright to Arikawa, who has a complicated upbringing. This experience is the root of the "sense of happiness" expressed in Arikawa's works.

Arikawa, who began his career by painting on the street, has held the large-scale solo exhibition "Ko-Hey! Arikawa EXPO®︎" every year since 2005, attracting over 12,000 visitors during the exhibition period with a long-standing following among visitors of all ages. His representative work, "BEST FRIENDS Matthew kun," a boy with red hair, has become an icon known by all, building bridges between people through various projects in Okinawa and other parts of Japan.