Background
She was born Kim Bok-Ja (Korean: 김 복자, Hanja: 金 福子, Kim is the family name).
和田 アキ子
She was born Kim Bok-Ja (Korean: 김 복자, Hanja: 金 福子, Kim is the family name).
She has various nicknames, one being "Akko". Due to her above-average height (174 cm or 5"85"), she is also nicknamed "jotei" (女帝), meaning "empress". Akiko Wada is Japanese with a Korean ethnicity.
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.
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 played the voice of as Bowser in Super Mario Brothers: Peach-Hime Kyushutsu Dai Sakusen!. 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.
