Akiko Ebi won the First Prize at the National Piano Competition in Japan at the age of 19. She also obtained the First Prize at the Paris Conservatoire (CNSM) with the Monique de la Brucholerie Special Prize. Ebi received the 2nd Grand Prize at the Marguerite Long-Jacques Thibaud Competition, along with all four special prizes awarded by A. Rubinstein and others. In 1980, she was a laureate of the International Chopin Piano Competition. Her numerous accolades include two Gold Discs in Japan, being named Chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French government, and the Exxon-Mobile Music Prize (Japan), among others.

Active in 37 countries as a musician, she has participated in festivals, recordings, and TV and radio broadcasts in Japan, Europe, the United States, Canada, Central and South America, Russia, China, and the Middle East.

She has performed with numerous orchestras worldwide, including the NHK Symphony, most Japanese orchestras, the Nouvel Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Monte Carlo Philharmonic, Warsaw National Philharmonic, Argentine National Symphony, Luxembourg Philharmonic, and major British orchestras. Conductors she has collaborated with include Skrowaczewski, Bruggen, Janowski, Sinaisky, Foster, Sado, Guschulbauer, Calderón, Milanov, Klee, Wolinska, Pommier, and others. A piano duo concert in Lyon with Martha Argerich was broadcast multiple times on television across Europe, Israel, and Japan.

Ebi has recorded 12 CDs, featuring works by Chopin, chamber music, piano quintets by Webern, Franck, and Pierné, as well as duets with violinist Yumino Toyoda performing Fauré and Lekeu.

She is the President of the Chopin Society in Japan and the President of the Yokohama International Piano Concert Committee. She is frequently invited to serve on juries for major international competitions, including the Chopin Competition in Warsaw, Marguerite Long-Jacques Thibaud, Clara Haskil, Santander, Maria Canals, Gina Bachauer, and others.