Akira was born in Kumamoto and raised in Kanagawa. He teaches at the private Meisei Gakuen School for the Deaf. Meisei Gakuen is the only school for the Deaf in Japan that offers bilingual (JSL/Japanese) education. He has been teaching JSL on NHK Educational TV's "Everyone's Sign Language" program since 2018.

"People say I am an aircraft nerd, and I actually might be. I want to become a pilot in my next life (haha). I had hoped my son would become one someday but he says he wants to be an architect. I am a proud father of my son."