asami Akita was born in Tokyo in 1956. He listened to psychedelic music, progressive rock, and later free jazz in his youth, all of which have influenced his noise.[1] In high school he became the drummer of various high school bands, which he left due to the other members being "grass-smoking Zappa freaks".[6] By this time, he and high school friend Kiyoshi Mizutani had started playing improvised rock at studio sessions which Akita describes as "long jam sessions along the lines of Ash Ra Tempel or Can but we didn't have any psychedelic taste".[6]
He later attended Tamagawa University to study fine art, at which he majored in painting and art theory.[5] While at university, he became interested in the ideas of Dada and surrealism and also studied Butoh dance.[6] At Tamagawa, he learned of Kurt Schwitters' Merz, or art made from rubbish, including Schwitters' Merzbau ("Merz building"), which is the source of the name "Merzbow