Junta Arakawa was born in Japan and began his musical training in early childhood music education and piano at the Yamaha Music School. Although he stopped playing the piano at the age of 16, he remained actively involved in music by playing tuba in the brass band at Nihon University Mishima High School. As a result, he chose to play trombone in the jazz and fusion club at Nihon University while majoring in International Relations. John Coltrane’s My Favorite Things had a profound impact on him and inspired him to return to the piano. The combo mainly transcribed and performed works by Tower of Power, Fourplay, and the Jazz Messengers.
After participating in a summer exchange program at St. Norbert College in Wisconsin, USA, he decided to transfer there, influenced both by the program and his admiration for Hideo Nomo. Before meeting his piano teacher, Elaine Moss, he majored in Business Administration while continuing to play trombone in the concert band and piano in the jazz band. After switching his major to Piano Performance, he won second prize in both the Sheboygan Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competition and the Lakeshore Wind Ensemble Concerto Competition in 2002. He earned his Bachelor’s degree in Piano Performance with a minor in Business from St. Norbert College in 2003. He is deeply grateful to Marshall Moss, Michael Rosewall, Jenny and Jason Leist, and Candace Bishop, whose guidance and support greatly enriched his musical education and student life.
He later enrolled at Wichita State University in Kansas, USA, as a full-scholarship Graduate Teaching Assistant, where he studied with Paul Reed and received his Master’s degree in Piano Performance in 2006. Suzanne Reed served as his English adviser.
In 2006, he moved to Thailand to work as a full-time lecturer at the School of Music, Assumption University. There, he taught piano, music theory, music history, ear training, form and analysis, music of human life, and music ensembles. He also organized solo and ensemble concerts and performed with many musicians in Thailand and Japan. He later served as Chairperson of the Department of Music Business at Assumption University. Through extensive collaborations, Paulo Zereu became one of his major pianistic influences, while artists such as Kyoko Abe, Noriko Tsuboi, and Yayoi Morita shared with him their artistic philosophies and creative perspectives.
Since 2016, Junta has been a full-time piano lecturer at YAMP, College of Music, Mahidol University. He has also served in the International Relations Unit since 2022 and currently holds the position of Assistant Dean for Mobility and Exchange. His hobbies include reading Japanese historical novels and manga, as well as watching sports news, Japanese drama series, and anime. He is particularly passionate about Gundam and Shohei Ohtani.
