Akemi was born in Osaka, Japan and spent her childhood in an old village surrounded by the Pacific Ocean on one side and the Izumi mountains on the other.

After graduating from High School she studied at Otani University in Kyoto gaining a Degree in Education. She then worked as a kindergarten teacher for 4 years before deciding to set herself free from the restrictions of Japanese society and explore the world.

Akemi traveled to China, Indonesia, Thailand, India, Australia, Mexico, America and most of Europe before settling in England in 1989. She decide that with her new found freedom she could at last study art, which had always been denied her, due to the inequality of Japanese society.

She studied a broad based course of fine art at Camden School of Art before being recommended for a place at Chelsea College of Art & Design. Akemi continued her studies at Cheltenham & Gloucester College of Higher Education where she gained a BA (Hons) in painting.

After graduation she resumed her travels in Asia to expand her experience and "Clear her mind of the student experience". She then spent a year in Japan visiting family and friends while working and exhibiting successfully.

Akemi lives in Islington where for eight years she was owner and executive chef at the Art to Zen cafe-gallery in Upper Street, close to the Angel tube station. At the moment she is working in her studio concentrating on her painting and exhibiting.