For other uses, see Akira.

See Sulu for other articles with titles that contain, either by relationship or by coincidence, this character's surname.

Akira Sulu was a Human who lived during the 20th century. He was an uncle of Hikaru Sulu, who was a distant ancestor of 23rd century Starfleet officer Hikaru Sulu. Akira was very similar in appearance to Hikaru's eventual descendant.

When the 23rd century Hikaru Sulu traveled back in time from 2286 to 1986, Hikaru and his great-great-grandfather happened to meet each other on the streets of San Francisco. The child believed Hikaru Sulu to be his uncle Akira, as Hikaru was similar in appearance of this uncle. Hikaru recognized the child almost immediately, having seen pictures of this ancestor at various stages in his life. After the meeting was finished, Doctor Leonard McCoy asked Sulu who Akira was, and Sulu informed him that the child was his distant ancestor. (TOS novelization: The Voyage Home)