| Akiko Wada | |||||||||||
| Native Name: | 和田 アキ子 | ||||||||||
| Native Name Lang: | ja | ||||||||||
| Birth Name: | Kim Bokja | ||||||||||
| Birth Date: | 10 April 1950 | ||||||||||
| Birth Place: | Tennōji-ku, Osaka, Osaka Prefecture, Japan | ||||||||||
| Years Active: | 1968 - present | ||||||||||
| Agent: | Horipro | ||||||||||
| Height: | 174 cm | ||||||||||
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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".
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, . When she took Japanese citizenship, her name became, which upon marriage became .
She is signed to the Horipro 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 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 .[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]
| Number | Year | Song | Appearance order | Opponent | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21 | 1970 | 2/24 | Mizuhara Hiroshi | Kōhaku debut | |
| 22 | 1971 | 3/25 | Kenichi Mikawa | ||
| 23 | 1972 | 2/23 | Four Leaves | ||
| 24 | 1973 | Waratte Yurushite (repeat) | 6/22 | Yukio Hashi | |
| 25 | 1974 | 10/25 | Kaientai | ||
| 26 | 1975 | 6/24 | DOWN TOWN BOOGIE WOOGIE BAND | ||
| 27 | 1976 | 7/24 | Hideki Saijo | ||
| 28 | 1977 | 12/24 | Masao Sen | ||
| 29 | 1978 | 13/24 | Masao Sen (2) | ||
| 37 | 1986 | 12/20 | Sugawara Youichi | Returned after 8 years | |
| 38 | 1987 | 20/20 | Hiroshi Itsuki | Host and finale for red team | |
| 39 | 1988 | 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 | 27/29 | Saburō Kitajima | ||
| 42 | 1991 | 28/28 | Shinji Tanimura (2) | Red team finale | |
| 43 | 1992 | 27/28 | Masashi Sada | Red team penultimate performance | |
| 44 | 1993 | 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 | 24/25 | Saburō Kitajima (2) | Host and penultimate performance for red team | |
| 49 | 1998 | 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 | 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 | Medley consisting of, 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 | 17/26 | Tokio | ||
| 65 | 2014 | 11/23 | V6 | First half finale | |
| 66 | 2015 | Waratte Yurushite (repeat) | 11/25 | Takashi Hosokawa (2) |