Akie Abe (, ''Abe Akie''; née Matsuzaki; born 10 June 1962) is a Japanese radio DJ and the widow of

Shinzo Abe Shinzo Abe ( ; ja, 安倍晋三, Hepburn romanization, Hepburn: , ; 21 September 1954 – 8 July 2022) was a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan and President of the Liberal Democratic Party (Japan), President of the Lib ...

, who served as

Prime Minister of Japan The prime minister of Japan (Japanese: 内閣総理大臣, Hepburn: ''Naikaku Sōri-Daijin'') is the head of government of Japan. The prime minister chairs the Cabinet of Japan and has the ability to select and dismiss its Ministers of Stat ...

from 2006 to 2007 and again from 2012 to 2020.

Early life

Shinzo Abe and Akie Abe cropped Juliana Awada Mauricio Macri Shinzo Abe and Akie Abe 20170519

Programa de acompañantes - Día 2 (46135399541)

Abe was born . She is from a wealthy Japanese family; her father is the former president of Morinaga & Co., one of Japan's largest

confectionery Confectionery is the art of making confections, which are food items that are rich in sugar and carbohydrates. Exact definitions are difficult. In general, however, confectionery is divided into two broad and somewhat overlapping categories ...

companies. She was educated at

Sacred Heart School in Tokyo is a private school for girls in Shirokane, Minato, Tokyo. Founded in 1908, it serves grades 1–12, from elementary school through senior high school. It is a part of the Sacred Heart Schools network, affiliated with the University of the Sa ...

(or ''Seishin Joshi Gakuin''), a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

private elementary through high school, then graduated from

Sacred Heart Professional Training College is a Private School, private Vocational school#Japan, vocational school in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. History The origin of the school was founded in 1908. It was chartered as a Vocational school#Japan, vocational school in 1976.Dentsu Inc., the world's largest advertising agency, before marrying Shinzo Abe in 1987. The couple had no children, having undergone unsuccessful fertility treatments earlier in their marriage. In the late 1990s, Abe worked as a radio

disc jockey A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include Radio personality, radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music f ...

in her husband's hometown of

Shimonoseki is a city located in Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan. With a population of 265,684, it is the largest city in Yamaguchi Prefecture and the fifth-largest city in the Chūgoku region. It is located at the southwestern tip of Honshu facing the Tsushim ...

. She was popular in the broadcast area and was known by her jockey name, "Akky".

Public life

Following her husband's first stint as prime minister, she opened an organic

izakaya An () is a type of informal Japanese bar that serves alcoholic drinks and snacks. are casual places for after-work drinking, similar to a pub, a Spanish tapas bar, or an American saloon or tavern. Etymology The word entered the English la ...

in the

Kanda Kanda may refer to: People * Kanda (surname) *Kanda Bongo Man (born 1955), Congolese soukous musician Places * Kanda, Tokyo, an area in Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan **Kanda Station (Tokyo), a railway station in Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo * Kanda River, a ri ...

district of Tokyo, but was not active in management due to the urging of her mother-in-law. She received a master's degree in Social Design Studies from

Rikkyo University , also known as Saint Paul's University, is a private university, in Ikebukuro, Tokyo, Japan. Rikkyo is known as one of the six leading universities in the field of sports in Tokyo (東京六大学 "Big Six" — Rikkyo University, University of ...

in March 2011. Akie became popularly known as the "domestic opposition party" due to her outspoken views, which often contradicted her husband's. Abe is also known as a supporter of

sexual minorities A sexual minority is a group whose sexual identity, sexual orientation, orientation or practices differ from the majority of the surrounding society. Primarily used to refer to lesbian, gay, bisexual, or non-heterosexual individuals, it can als ...

and the

LGBT community The LGBT community (also known as the LGBTQ+ community, GLBT community, gay community, or queer community) is a loosely defined grouping of lesbian, gay men, gay, bisexuality, bisexual, transgender, and other queer individuals united by a comm ...

. On April 27, 2014, she joined the

gay pride parade A pride parade (also known as pride march, pride event, or pride festival) is an outdoor event celebrating lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer culture, queer (LGBTQ) social and self-acceptance, achievements, LGBT rights by country o ...

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

to show her support for broader rights to Japan's LGBT community. In 2015, she was photographed standing in a field of cannabis plants promoting the revival of the cannabis culture in Japan. While her husband was in office, Abe developed a close relationship with the

Moritomo Gakuen Moritomo Gakuen (学校法人森友学園, ''Gakkō hōjin Moritomo Gakuen'') is a Japanese private school operator, most known for its involvement in a 2017 political scandal implicating former Prime Minister Shinzō Abe and his wife, Akie Ab ...

kindergarten in Osaka, which is noted for its conservative and militarist culture, including requiring students to memorize the

Imperial Rescript on Education The , or IRE for short, was signed by Emperor Meiji of Japan on 30 October 1890 to articulate government policy on the guiding principles of education on the Empire of Japan. The 315 character document was read aloud at all important school events, ...

. Abe was named as honorary principal of Mizuho no Kuni, an elementary school under development by Moritomo Gakuen, but resigned in February 2017 after it was discovered that Moritomo Gakuen had purchased the land for the school from the government for 14% of its appraised value. The Moritomo Gakuen scandal highlighted the complicated role of the prime minister's wife in Japan: although Abe herself was not considered a civil servant, she was supported by a staff of five civil servants seconded from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, thus implying that her role carries public duties. Akie was the first spouse of a Japanese prime minister to actively use

social media Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social medi ...

, and was particularly personally active on

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...

and

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

, but dramatically reduced her social media activities and changed the style of her posts in the wake of the

scandal.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Abe, Akie 1962 births Housewives Japanese radio personalities Japanese Roman Catholics Japanese socialites LGBT rights activists from Japan Living people People from Shimonoseki People from Tokyo Rikkyo University alumni Spouses of prime ministers of Japan Shinzo Abe