Eriko Akamatsu received her MA in Secondary Education from Marshall University, an MA in Second Language Acquisition from the University of Maryland, and a BA in English Education from Hiroshima University.

Akamatsu taught at the University of Maryland and the West Virginia International School as well as in Cornell University's FALCON (Full-year Asian Language CONcentration) Program in Japanese. She also served as an Outreach Coordinator for Cornell University’s East Asia Program. As a member of the ALLEX Foundation, Akamatsu promoted Japanese, Chinese, and Korean language education at universities throughout the United States.