Tanikawa studied in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Kyoto, where he was one of the students of Kitaro Nishida, the leader of the Kyoto School.
He was instructor in turn at Doshisha, Ryukoku and of Kyoto Kaiga Semmon Gakko (school of fine arts) universities (1922-27), professor at Hosei University (1928) ans vice-director of National Museum (1948). He wrote several books on philosophy and the fine arts.
Tanikawa introduced philosophical ideas in Japan through his translations of Georg Simmel and Immanuel Kant. His major philosophical influence was Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. He questioned how world peace could be realized in the face of nuclear proliferation at the beginning of the Cold War.