Textile planner Junichi Arai was born on March 13, 1932, in Gunma Prefecture. Born in Kiryu City, a city renowned for its textiles, he joined his family's textile business after graduating from high school. While crafting traditional fabrics, he also created new textiles by processing and dyeing them. In 1960, he won the Minister of International Trade and Industry Award at the first Chemical Fiber Grand Fair. His unique blend of handcraft and technology, such as "slit yarn," made by vacuum-coating aluminum and other metals on plastic film and then cutting them into thin strips, and his cutting-edge textile techniques have captivated many fashion designers. From the 1970s to the 1980s, he collaborated with artists such as Issey Miyake and Rei Kawakubo to create works that were highly praised at Paris Collections and other shows. In recent years, he has held exhibitions not only in Japan but also in Europe, the United States, and China. He received honorary doctorates from the University of the Arts London in 2008 and the Royal College of Art in 2011.