[1] Tanikawa begun her career with the Japanese national team youth setup, JFA Academy Fukushima, before transferring to Europe.
A full international since 2023, Tanikawa won the 2022 Asian Games women's football tournament and the 2023 Toulon Tournament with Japan, having reached the quarter-finals of the 2022 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup with the national team, scoring in every game.
From 2018 until 2023, Tanikawa played in Fukushima for the U18 team in the JFA Academy, the youth program of the Japan Football Association.
On 11 January 2024, it was announced that Tanikawa had sign with Frauen-Bundesliga club Bayern Munich.
[6] She scored her first goal for the club in a 4–1 DFB-Pokal extra-time win against Eintracht Frankfurt on 13 February 2025, where she also contributed an assist.