[4] That same year, Arita left Tokyo for Ontario where he continued freelance photography for Canadian and Japanese advertising and publishing industries.
In 1991, he left Tokyo for Southern California where he worked as contributing photographer and videographer to Japanese publishers and television broadcasting companies, and began spending more time creating paintings and sculptures.
In 2000, Arita moved to the coastal area of Mendocino County in Northern California to begin a life devoted solely to the creation of art with his second wife Masako.
This project became a point of reference for several of the area's woodworkers, many of whom studied at the Fine Wood Working Program founded by James Krenov.
A posthumous printing of Arita's First Born folio was undertaken by Yosihiko Ueda in late 2011 for publication November 2012, with accompanying exhibits in Tokyo and Paris Photo 2012.