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Akiko Wada

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Akiko Wada
和田 アキ子
Born
Kim Bokja

(1950-04-10) April 10, 1950 (age 74)
Tennōji-ku, Osaka, Osaka Prefecture, Japan
Occupations
  • Singer
  • tarento
  • businesswoman
Years active1968–present
AgentHoripro
Height174 cm (5 ft 9 in)
Korean name
Hangul
김복자
Hanja
Revised RomanizationGim Bok-ja
McCune–ReischauerKim Pokcha
Websitewww.ako50.com

Akiko Wada (和田 アキ子, Wada Akiko, born April 10, 1950) 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

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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, 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

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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!.[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]

Kōhaku Uta Gassen Appearances

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Number Year Song Appearance order Opponent Remarks
21 1970 笑って許して (Waratte Yurushite, "Laugh and Forgive") 2/24 Mizuhara Hiroshi Kōhaku debut
22 1971 天使になれない (Tenshi ni Narenai, "Can't be an Angel") 3/25 Kenichi Mikawa
23 1972 孤独 (Kodoku, "Solitude") 2/23 Four Leaves
24 1973 Waratte Yurushite (repeat) 6/22 Yukio Hashi
25 1974 美しき誤解 (Utsukushiki Gokai, "Beautiful Misunderstanding") 10/25 Kaientai
26 1975 もっと自由に (Motto Jiyū ni, "More Freely") 6/24 DOWN TOWN BOOGIE WOOGIE BAND
27 1976 雨のサタデー (Ame no Satadē, "Rainy Saturday") 7/24 Hideki Saijo
28 1977 夜更けのレストラン (Yoake no Resutoran, "Break of dawn Restaurant") 12/24 Masao Sen
29 1978 コーラス・ガール (Kōrasu Gāru, "Chorus Girl") 13/24 Masao Sen (2)
37 1986 もう一度ふたりで歌いたい (Mō Ichido Futari de Utaitai, "Sing with the Two of Us Once More") 12/20 Sugawara Youichi Returned after 8 years
38 1987 抱擁 (Hōyō, "Embrace") 20/20 Hiroshi Itsuki Host and finale for red team
39 1988 だってしょうがないじゃない (Datte Shōganai Janai, "Can't Be Helped") 9/21 Yoshi Ikuzō Red team host
40 1989 Datte Shōganai Janai (repeat) 19/20 Shinji Tanimura Host and penultimate performance for red team
41 1990 抱かれ上手 (Dakare Jōzu, "Good at Being Held") 27/29 Saburō Kitajima
42 1991 あの鐘を鳴らすのはあなた (Ano Kane o Narasu Nowa Anata, "You Are the One That Rings That Bell") 28/28 Shinji Tanimura (2) Red team finale
43 1992 愛、とどきますか (Ai, Todokimasuka?, "Does Love Reach You?") 27/28 Masashi Sada Red team penultimate performance
44 1993 星空の孤独 (Hoshizora no Kodoku, The Loneliness of The Starry Night) 24/26 Shinji Tanimura (3)
45 1994 Ano Kane o Narasu Nowa Anata (repeat) 22/25 Akira Kobayashi
46 1995 Mō Ichido Futari de Utaitai (repeat) 25/25 Takashi Hosokawa Red team finale
47 1996 Mother 20/25 Masashi Sada (2)
48 1997 夢 (Yume, "Dream") 24/25 Saburō Kitajima (2) Host and penultimate performance for red team
49 1998 今あなたにうたいたい (Ima Anata ni Utaitai, "I Want to Sing to You Now") 25/25 Hiroshi Itsuki (2) Show finale
50 1999 Ano Kane o Narasu Nowa Anata (repeat) 27/27 Saburō Kitajima (3) Red team finale
51 2000 Mō Ichido Futari de Utaitai (repeat) 27/28 Saburō Kitajima (4) Red team penultimate performance
52 2001 Yume (repeat) 27/27 Saburō Kitajima (5) Red team finale
53 2002 Hōyō (repeat) 25/27 Masashi Sada (3)
54 2003 古い日記 2003 KOUHAKU Remix (Furui Nikki Kōhaku Rimikkusu, "Old Diary Kōhaku Remix") 27/28 Hiroshi Itsuki (3)
55 2004 Ano Kane o Narasu Nowa Anata (repeat) 22/28 Yuzu
56 2005 HEY! 27/29 Misato Watanabe Appeared under white team
57 2006 Mother (repeat) 23/27 Masafumi Akikawa
58 2007 Ano Kane o Narasu Nowa Anata (repeat) 26/27 Shinichi Mori Red team penultimate performance
59 2008 Yume (repeat) 26/26 Kiyoshi Hikawa Red team finale
60 2009 Mō Ichido Futari de Utaitai (repeat) 22/25 Kobukuro
61 2010 AKKOィィッ!紅白2010スペシャル (Akko! Kōhaku 2010 Supesharu)
Medley consisting of 人生はこれから (Jinsei wa Korekara), Waratte Yurushite (repeat), Furui Nikki (repeat)		 16/22 Yūzō Kayama
62 2011 Ano Kane o Narasu Nowa Anata (repeat) 19/25 Arashi
63 2012 Ai, Todokimasuka? (repeat) 21/25 Akihiro Miwa
64 2013 今でもあなた (Ima Demo Anata) 17/26 Tokio
65 2014 古い日記〜2014紅白スペシャル〜 (Furui Nikki 2014 Supesharu) 11/23 V6 First half finale
66 2015 Waratte Yurushite (repeat) 11/25 Takashi Hosokawa (2)

References

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  1. ^ "ホリプロオフィシャルサイト -和田アキ子-". Archived from the original on 2012-07-01. Retrieved 2012-08-27.
  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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