He received his B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. in agriculture from the University of Tokyo. Nishikawa was a visiting academic at the Nissan Institute of Japanese Studies, the University of Oxford from 2011 to 2012, and has been a special researcher for the Agricultural Policy Research Committee since 2010. As part of his research, Nishikawa engages in extensive field surveys in Ibaraki, Yamagata and Hiroshima prefectures, where he collects information and conducts interviews with farmers, local government officials and regional cooperative representatives. In doing so, he seeks not only to clarify how agricultural policy changes are affecting farm management and the structure of agriculture in Japan, but to contribute to the policymaking process.