Her father was a career Air Force serviceman so she experienced a peripatetic lifestyle living in Hawaii and East Asia.
In 1969 her family was transferred back to the United States, moving to Dover, Delaware, where Akamu graduated high school.
After several months, Nina Akamu determined that the original model could not be salvaged and concluded that a completely new sculpture needed to be executed.
The colossal bronze horse was completed and dedicated in Milan, Italy and the Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park in Grand Rapids, Michigan in September and October 1999.
Leonardo had made numerous small sketches of horses to help illustrate his notes about the complex procedures for molding and casting the sculpture.
Akamu also studied Iberian horse breeds, such as the Andalusian, which were favored by the Sforza stables in the late 15th century.
A bronze replica – 8 feet (2.4 m) – was installed 15 September 2001 at Piazza della Libertà in Vinci, Italy, the birth town of Leonardo.
Akamu's creation of the statue on the Memorial to Japanese-American Patriotism in World War II, shows two Grus japonensis birds.