Born 1935 in Tokyo. Akiyama graduated in 1960 from the Department of Sculpture at Musashino Art School. At Gifu Independent Art Festival of 1965, he exhibited himself. Calling this “pop happenings,” he also engaged in “moving pop art” for the Japanese companies Kintaro and Glico. His first solo exhibition was held in 1973 at Galleria Grafica in Tokyo. In 1975 and 1979, Akiyama ran for mayor of Tokyo in an attempt to bring pop art into politics. He participated in the 1986 exhibition “Japan’s Avantgarde, 1910-1970” in Paris, and a retrospective was held in 1994 at the Ikeda Museum of 20th Century Art in Ito.

In 1997, when Toki no Wasuremono was still located in its own building, we held the exhibition “Akiyama Yutokutaishi: The Emperor Going for a Walk.” Tin plate sculptures of Akiyama’s “Emperor” were set up in the garden. While the sculptures were standing there in the fresh breeze of spring, Akiyama felt he had lived up to his reputation, saying that art does not always need to be a hyperbolic affair.
Passed away in 2020.