Will Petersen arrived in Japan in 1953 as an educational specialist with the United States Army. While there, he studied the Japanese language and calligraphy. He also met the Japanese sculptor, Shindo Tsuji, and enrolled in the Kyoto College of Fine Arts.

Petersen returned to the United States in 1955 and became involved with poets of the Beat Generation. Their attraction to Zen Buddhism influenced him and heightened his interest in the Japanese culture. He returned to Japan in 1957, living in Kyoto and in the outlying village of Yase at the foot of Mt. Hiei, where he single-handedly built his own bark-roofed studio.

During his eight years in Kyoto, Petersen pursued painting, printmaking and writing. He also studied Noh, classical Japanese performance that combines drama, music and poetry, and appeared regularly in recitals. He taught English at three universities and later at the Matsushita Electric Industrial Company, where he became head of the English Language Program.

Petersen's color lithographs, executed on stone and hand printed, were exhibited at the National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto, where he received the prestigious Suda Award, the first time a painting prize was awarded to a printmaker. His prints were also selected by the Mainichi Daily News for a "Best of the Year" exhibition.

Petersen left Japan in 1965, but his experiences there inspired his entire artistic career. Motifs from Noh drama, including Japanese dress, and calligraphy became characteristic elements in his work.