Ichikawa represented Japan national team at several underage levels. He made his first full international debut on April 1, 1998 against South Korea when he was 17 year and 322 days old, which made him the youngest player who represented Japan. Ichikawa was short-listed for the 1998 World Cup, but national coach Takeshi Okada dropped him together with Kazuyoshi Miura and Tsuyoshi Kitazawa at the final training camp in Nyon, Switzerland.