[4] He worked as an artist, and overall director for Mega Man (known as Rockman in Japan) for the Famicom.
He created the original static pixel art sprite for Mega Man.
After that, the pixel art was handed over to artist Keiji Inafune who created a refined illustration of the character.
[5][6][7] Inafune refers to this process as "like a reverse character design" as it is the opposite of what typically occurs, where artists create concept art which is then translated into game's graphics.
[5] At a special event during the 2007 Tokyo Game Show, Inafune commented on his and Akira's role in the creation of Mega Man.