Born 1957 in Kobe City, Hyogo. Graduated from the Department of Economics, Kyoto University. After working as an assistant professor at the Institute of Economic Research at Kyoto University (KIER), is presently the Dean of the Graduate School at the Kyoto University of Art and Design.

Published "Structure and Power" (Keiso Shobo) in 1983, which together with the paradigm of the 'schizo and the parano' put forward in "A Theory of Escape" (Chikuma Shobo), published one year later, ignited the advent of the New Academicism often referred to as the "Akira Asada phenomenon". Subsequently, he has been engaging in critical work in the areas of philosophy and history of thought, and in various other areas such as art, architecture, music, dance, cinema and literature. Publications include next to "Structure and Power" and "A Theory of Escape" also such writings as "The Music of Hermes" (Chikuma Shobo, 1985), "The End of Cinema's Century" (Shinchosha, 2000), and "Critical Point of the 20th Century Culture" (Seidosha, 2000).