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Akiko Wada (和田 アキ子,Wada Akiko, born April 10, 1950) is a Japanese singer,tarento and businesswoman fromTennōji-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".

Akiko Wada is Japanese of Korean ethnicity. She was bornKim Bok-ja (Korean: 김복자,Hanja: 金福子,Kim is the family name). Like manyZainichi 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 becameAkiko Wada (和田 現子,Wada Akiko), which upon marriage becameAkiko Iizuka (飯塚 現子,Iizuka Akiko).

She is signed to theHoripro entertainment agency.^[1]

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 performing in clubs due to boredom. She was signed to theHoripro 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 onKōhaku 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 ofBowser inSuper Mario Bros.: The Great Mission to Rescue Princess Peach!.^[2] She has also voiced Marge Simpson in the Japanese version ofThe Simpsons Movie.

She also performed with the music groupM-Flo on the song "Hey!" on their 2005 albumBeat Space Nine.

Wada performed at the famousApollo Theater inHarlem,New York in September 2008 as part of her 40th debut anniversary tour.^[3]

• Official blog(in Japanese)
• Official website(in Japanese)
• japan-zone.com article

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