Kousuke Akiyoshi first appeared as a wildcard rider for Rizla Suzuki in 2006 at the Japanese Grand Prix, where he finished 13th. In 2007 he made two more appearances finishing 17th in Jerez and ran in 7th behind Casey Stoner at Motegi until he retired four laps from the finish. In 2008, he competed in the Japanese GP a third time though crashed out on the first lap. Akiyoshi stood in for the injured Hiroshi Aoyama in 2010, competing in two races and finishing 15th in Assen and 13th in Catalunya. He replaced Aoyama once again for the Gresini team at the 2011 Dutch TT, though not through injury as Aoyama himself replaced the injured Dani Pedrosa at Repsol Honda. 2011 saw Akiyoshi appear as a fourth rider on the Repsol Honda team at Motegi.