A native of Fukuoka and a graduate of the 1889 class of the Imperial Japanese Army Academy, Akashi was nominally under the Imperial Guard Division attached to the staff of General Kawakami Sōroku during the First Sino-Japanese War.
Akashi, a native of Fukuoka and a graduate of the 1889 class of the Imperial Japanese Army Academy, served as part of the Imperial Guard Division under General Kawakami Sōroku's command during the First Sino-Japanese War.