Akiko Wada

Akiko Wada (和田 アキ子, Wada Akiko, born April 10, 1950) is a South Korean-born Japanese singer, tarento and businesswoman from Tennōji-ku, Osaka, Osaka Prefecture.

Akiko Wada
和田 アキ子
Born
Kim Bokja

(1950-04-10) April 10, 1950
Tennōji-ku, Osaka, Osaka Prefecture, Japan
Occupation
  • Singer
  • tarento
  • businesswoman
Years active1968–present
AgentHoripro
Height174 cm (5 ft 9 in)
Japanese name
Hiraganaわだ あきこ
Katakanaワダ アキコ
Japanese name
Kanji飯塚 現子
Hiraganaいいづか あきこ
Katakanaイイヅカ アキコ
Korean name
Hangul
Hanja
Revised RomanizationGim Bok-ja
McCune–ReischauerKim Pokcha
Websitewww.ako50.com

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 with 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, Kaneumi Fukuko). When she took Japanese citizenship, her name became Akiko Wada (和田 現子, Wada Akiko), which upon marriage became Akiko Iizuka (飯塚 現子, Iizuka Akiko).

She is signed to the Horipro entertainment agency.[1]

Career

At age 17, she dropped out of school and performed in clubs. 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 as Bowser in Super Mario Bros.: Peach-Hime Kyushutsu Dai Sakusen!.[2] 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.[3]

References
  1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-07-01. Retrieved 2012-08-27.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. "Sûpâ Mario Burazâzu.: Pîchi-hime kyushutsu dai sakusen." Internet Movie Database. Accessed 29 May 2009.
  3. "Akiko Wada performs at Apollo Theater in New York". Japan Today. 1 October 2008. Retrieved 30 October 2008.


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