Dr Akira Igata is a Project Lecturer at the Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology (RCAST), the University of Tokyo. He is also an Adjunct Senior Fellow at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS) in Washington DC, Pacific Forum (PF) in Honolulu, and Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) in Canberra. He is also the Global Advisory Board Member of the European Values Center for Security Studies (EVC) in Prague and the Non-Executive Director at the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) in London.

He is an expert on economic security issues and is frequently quoted in major Japanese news outlets. He also regularly appears on Japanese TV, radio and internet programs as a commentator.  

Internationally, his insights have been quoted in media such as CBS News, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, Reuters, Quartz, NHK World, Nikkei Asia, JoongAng Ilbo, Le Figaro, Handelsblatt, Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Euractiv and Al Jazeera.

He advises the Japanese government, bureaucracy, and the private sector in various capacities.