 Between 1961 and 1970 he worked at Nippon Design Center doing commercial photography.Takanashi was a member of the collective that produced "Provoke" magazine in 1968 and 1969.Takanashi had a tenured position at Tokyo Zokei University from 1980 until 2000 (a full professor from 1983), whereupon he retired but continued teaching there part-time.