Akiko Wada (和田 アキ子) is a Japanese singer, tarento and businesswoman from Tennōji-ku, Osaka, Osaka Prefecture. She has various nicknames, one being "Akko". Due to her above-average height (174 cm or 5’8.5"), she is also nicknamed "jotei" (女帝), meaning "empress".

Biography

Akiko Wada is Japanese of Korean ethnicity. She was born Kim Bok-ja (Korean: 김복자, Hanja: 金福子, Kim is the family name). Like many Zainichi Koreans, she also had a Japanese-style name for everyday use, Fukuko Kaneumi (金海福子). When she took Japanese citizenship, her name became Akiko Wada (和田 現子), which upon marriage became Akiko Iizuka (飯塚 現子). She is signed to the Horipro entertainment agency.

Career

At age 15, she dropped out of high school after 2 or 3 days due to her father arbitrarily delivering a note telling the school that Akiko would quit attending the school. Then Akiko started performed in clubs due to boredom. She was signed to the Horipro entertainment agency and released her debut single, "Hoshizora no Kodoku" in 1968 and had her first hit the next year with "Doshaburi no Ame no Naka de". She performed on Kōhaku Uta Gassen, a music show broadcast live every New Year's Eve, in 1970 and has performed over 30 times on the show since then. She received the award for Best Song at the 1972 Japan Record Awards for "Ano Kane wo Narasu no wa Anata". She played the voice of Bowser in Super Mario Bros.: The Great Mission to Rescue Princess Peach!. She has also voiced Marge Simpson in the Japanese version of The Simpsons Movie. She also performed with the music group M-Flo on the song "Hey!" on their 2005 album Beat Space Nine. Wada performed at the famous Apollo Theater in Harlem, New York in September 2008 as part of her 40th debut anniversary tour.

Kōhaku Uta Gassen Appearances