is a feminine

Japanese given name in modern times consist of a family name (surname) followed by a given name, in that order. Nevertheless, when a Japanese name is written in the Roman alphabet, ever since the Meiji era, the official policy has been to cater to Western expecta ...

Possible writings

The

kanji are the logographic Chinese characters taken from the Chinese family of scripts, Chinese script and used in the writing of Japanese language, Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese ...

characters ("sparkle"), ("bright"), and ("autumn") are three variations of ways to write ''"aki"'', and the character is a common suffix in female given names in Japan. In

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

the character (''"ko"'') means "child". The name can be written many different ways, and has different meanings depending on which kanji is used for ''"aki"'' (as well as the

hiragana is a Japanese syllabary, part of the Japanese writing system, along with ''katakana'' as well as ''kanji''. It is a phonetic lettering system. The word ''hiragana'' literally means "flowing" or "simple" kana ("simple" originally as contrast ...

and

katakana is a Japanese syllabary, one component of the Japanese writing system along with hiragana, kanji and in some cases the Latin script (known as rōmaji). The word ''katakana'' means "fragmentary kana", as the katakana characters are derived fr ...

). Some variations of Akiko include: *亜妃子 ("Asia, queen, child") *安希子 ("peaceful, hope, child") *明子 ("bright, child") *充子 ("provide, child") *上子 ("superior, above, child") *暁子 ("dawn, child")

Notable people

Princess Akiko of Mikasa is a member of the Imperial House of Japan and the elder daughter of Prince Tomohito of Mikasa and Princess Tomohito of Mikasa (Nobuko). Biography Education Princess Akiko graduated from Gakushuin University in Tokyo with a bachelor's degree ...

(彬子女王), member of the

Japanese Imperial Family The , also referred to as the Imperial Family or the House of Yamato, comprises those members of the extended family of the reigning Emperor of Japan who undertake official and public duties. Under the present Constitution of Japan, the Emperor i ...

*, Japanese announcer and actress *, Japanese cross-country skier *, Japanese

speed skater Speed skating is a competitive form of ice skating in which the competitors race each other in travelling a certain distance on skates. Types of speed skating are long track speed skating, short track speed skating, and marathon speed skating. ...

* Akiko Domoto (堂本暁子), former governor of

Chiba Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Chiba Prefecture has a population of 6,278,060 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of . Chiba Prefecture borders Ibaraki Prefecture to the north, Saitama Prefecture to the ...

, Japan *, Japanese

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

er *

Akiko Futaba was a Japanese popular music (''ryūkōka'') singer. At of the end of World War II, she was one of the most popular female singers in Japan, competing with Hamako Watanabe and Noriko Awaya. In addition, she took part in the ''Kōhaku Uta Gassen ...

(二葉あき子, 1915-2011), Japanese

Ryūkōka is a Japanese music genre, musical genre. The term originally denoted any kind of "popular music" in Japanese, and is the East Asian cultural sphere, sinic reading of ''hayariuta'', used for commercial music of Edo period, Edo Period. Therefore, ...

singer *

Akiko Hasegawa is a Japanese voice actress and singer best known as the voice of Miki Hoshii in '' The Idolmaster'' series. She also voices Akari in ''Fantasista Doll'' and Rena Asihara in ''Ro-Kyu-Bu!''. On February 25, 2014, she announced that she has b ...

(長谷川明子), Japanese voice actress and singer *, Japanese

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

player *

Akiko Hinagata is a Japanese actress and former gravure idol. Career Television She made her acting debut in 1992 in the TBS drama ''Obenkyō''. In 1994, she was chosen Fuji Television Visual Queen. Two years later, Hinagata received the Golden Arrow Graph p ...

(雛形あきこ), Japanese actress, television talent, and former

gravure idol A model is a person with a role either to promote, display or advertise commercial products (notably fashion clothing in fashion shows) or to serve as a visual aid for people who are creating works of art or to pose for photography. Though mo ...

*, Japanese

voice actress Voice acting is the art of performing voice-overs to present a character or provide information to an audience. Performers are called voice actors/actresses, voice artists, dubbing artists, voice talent, voice-over artists, or voice-over talent ...

Akiko Ikuina is a Japanese singer, actress, tarento, and politician. She joined the Japanese pop idol group Onyanko Club in 1986. Biography She was born in Setagaya, Tokyo, but moved to Koganei when she was a little girl. She has an elder sister and an eld ...

(生稲晃子), Japanese actress, singer, tarento, and politician *, Japanese

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles and techniques to communicate ideas. Writers produce different forms of literary art and creative writing such as novels, short stories, books, poetry, travelogues, p ...

* Akiko Iwamoto (岩本亜希子, born 1978), Japanese

rower Rowing, sometimes called crew in the United States, is the sport of racing boats using oars. It differs from paddling sports in that rowing oars are attached to the boat using oarlocks, while paddles are not connected to the boat. Rowing is ...

who competed in the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

Akiko Kamei is a Japanese politician of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, and a member of the House of Representatives. She is a former member of People's New Party and of the House of Councillors. A native of Tokyo and graduate of Gakushuin ...

(亀井亜紀子), Japanese politician of the

People's New Party The People's New Party (国民新党 ''Kokumin Shintō'', PNP) was a Japanese political party formed on August 17, 2005 in the aftermath of the defeat of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's Japan Post privatisation bills which led to a snap electi ...

, and a member of the

House of Councillors The is the upper house of the National Diet of Japan. The House of Representatives is the lower house. The House of Councillors is the successor to the pre-war House of Peers. If the two houses disagree on matters of the budget, treaties, ...

in the

Diet Diet may refer to: Food * Diet (nutrition), the sum of the food consumed by an organism or group * Dieting, the deliberate selection of food to control body weight or nutrient intake ** Diet food, foods that aid in creating a diet for weight loss ...

*, Japanese field hockey player *, Japanese tennis player *

Akiko Kobayashi (singer) __NOTOC__ , also known by her alias Holi, is a Japanese singer, songwriter, composer and arranger. Kobayashi collaborated with Brian Eno and U2 on their 1995 project, the Passengers. Her smash hit debut song, from 1985s popular show "Kinyōbi ...

(小林明子), a Japanese singer, composer,

arranger In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orches ...

, and

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music gen ...

Akiko Kobayashi (voice actor) is a Japanese voice actress and singer. Filmography Television animation ;2001 *''Parappa the Rapper'' (Paula) *'' Angel Tales'' (Tanuki no Midori) ;2002 *'' Digimon Frontier'' (Nyaromon) *''Shin Megami Tensei Devil Children: Light & Dark'' ...

(小林晃子), voice actress and singer from Japan *

Akiko Kojima is a Japanese model and beauty queen who was crowned Miss Universe 1959, making her the first Japanese and Asian woman to win the title. Biography Kojima was a 22-year-old model from Tokyo, Japan when she bested four other finalists from Nor ...

(児島明子), a Japanese actress and the first

Miss Universe Miss Universe is an annual international beauty pageant that is run by a United States and Thailand based Miss Universe Organization.Natalie Tadena (July 2, 2015"Donald Trump's Miss USA Pageant Lands on Reelz Cable Channel". ''The Wall Stre ...

to come from Asia *, Japanese actress *, Japanese television personality and actress * Akiko Matsuo (松尾亜紀子, born 1964), Japanese engineer *

Akiko Matsuura Akiko Matsuura (also known by the name Keex) is a Japanese drummer and vocalist residing in the United Kingdom. She has worked in numerous bands in the U.K. Career Matsuura is the front woman of the English art rock band PRE. Matsuura has worked ...

, singer and drummer from

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...

, Japan who plays for the British bands;

The Big Pink The Big Pink are an English electronic rock band from London, consisting of multi-instrumentalists Robertson "Robbie" Furze, Akiko Matsuura and Charlie Barker. Initially a duo, they signed to independent record label 4AD in 2009 and won the ...

, Comanechi, and Pre *, Japanese

javelin thrower The javelin throw is a track and field event where the javelin, a spear about in length, is thrown. The javelin thrower gains momentum by running within a predetermined area. Javelin throwing is an event of both the men's decathlon and the ...

*, Japanese

badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per side) and "doubles" (with two players pe ...

player * Akiko Monō (桃生亜希子), an actress and model from Japan *, Japanese tennis player *, Japanese ice hockey player *

Akiko Nakagawa is a Japanese voice actress who was born in Sapporo. She is married to Inuyasha music composer Kaoru Wada. She is one of the voice actresses for Miyuki Nanase in ''Kindaichi Case Files'' series. Notable voice roles *Sōta Higurashi in Inuyasha *A ...

(born 1973), Japanese voice actress *, Japanese shogi player * Akiko Nishina (仁科亜希子), Japanese actress *, Japanese women's footballer * Akiko Shiga (志賀暁子, 19101990), Japanese actress *

Akiko Shikata is a Japanese singer-songwriter and composer, who is known for writing music for games and anime. She is best known for her contributions to the ''Ar tonelico'', '' Shadow Hearts'' and '' Umineko no Naku Koro ni'' games, as well as anime adapta ...

(志方あきこ), Japanese composer and singer-songwriter *

Akiko Suwanai is a Japanese classical violinist. At the age of 18, she became the youngest winner of the International Tchaikovsky Competition in 1990. In addition, she was awarded second prize in the Paganini Competition in 1988 and Queen Elisabeth Competit ...

(諏訪内晶子), Japanese classical violinist * Akiko Suzuki (鈴木明子), Japanese figure skater * Akiko Takojima,

professional shogi player A professional shogi player (将棋棋士 ''shōgi kishi'' or プロ棋士 ''puro kishi'' "professional player") is a shogi player who is usually a member of a professional guild of shogi players. There are two categories of professional player ...

Akiko Tsuruga is a jazz composer, Hammond B-3 organist and pianist from Osaka, Japan. She was born in Osaka. Her parents bought her a small organ when she was three and she started learning to play standards. At high school, she listened to Hammond B3 players ...

(敦賀明子), jazz keyboard musician, composer,

organist An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ (music), organ. An organist may play organ repertoire, solo organ works, play with an musical ensemble, ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumentalist, instrumental ...

, and pianist from

Akiko Wada is an ethnically Korean 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" (� ...

(和田アキ子), singer and television

tarento Television personalities in Japan, known as in Japanese, are celebrities who regularly appear in mass media in Japan, especially as panelists on variety shows. During the Golden Age of Hollywood, bankable stars in America were described as "tal ...

from Ikuno-ku *

Akiko Wakabayashi is a retired Japanese actress. Career Wakabayashi is best known in English-speaking countries for her role as Bond girl Aki in the 1967 James Bond film '' You Only Live Twice''. Before this, she had made many films in her native Japan, especia ...

(若林映子), Japanese actress best known for her role as the Bond girl Aki in the 1967

James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...

film '' You Only Live Twice'' *

Akiko Yada is a Japanese actress. She won the award for Best Supporting Actress at the 6th Nikkan Sports Drama Grand Prix for ''Boku no Ikiru Michi''. Filmography Films * ''Pyrokinesis'' (2000) * '' Tales of the Unusual'' (2000) * ''Impossibility Defense' ...

(矢田亜希子), an actress from Kawasaki, Japan *

Akiko Yajima is a Japanese voice actress from Kashiwazaki, Niigata. Her best-known role is as the title character Shinnosuke Nohara in the long-running anime series '' Crayon Shin-chan''. She also voices Mipple in the original ''Futari wa Pretty Cure'', S ...

(矢島晶子, born 1967), voice actress from Kashiwazaki, Japan *

Akiko Yano is a Japanese pop and jazz musician and singer born in Tokyo and raised in Aomori and later began her singing career in the mid-1970s. She has been called "one of the major musical talents of the Japanese popular music world", and her vocals an ...

(矢野顕子), a Japanese singer and pop/jazz musician * Akiko Yazawa, backgammon player *

Akiko Yosano Yosano Akiko (Shinjitai: , seiji: ; 7 December 1878 – 29 May 1942) was the pen-name of a Japanese author, poet, pioneering feminist, pacifist, and social reformer, active in the late Meiji era as well as the Taishō and early Shōwa eras of ...

(与謝野晶子, 1878-1942), Japanese poet, feminist and social reformer of late 19th-early 20th century Japan * Akiko Yoshida (吉田亜紀子, born 1976), Japanese pop singer better known under her stagename KOKIA *

Empress Shōshi , also known as , the eldest daughter of Fujiwara no Michinaga, was Empress of Japan from c. 1000 to c. 1011. Her father sent her to live in the Emperor Ichijō's harem at age 12. Because of his power, influence and political machinations she qui ...

, former

Empress of Japan The Empress of Japan is the title given to the wife of the Emperor of Japan or a female ruler in her own right. In Japanese, the empress consort is called . The current empress consort is Empress Masako, who ascended the throne with her husband o ...

, who was also known as Akiko

Fictional characters

* Aki, a

female ninja is a Japanese cant term for . In popular culture, it is often used for female shinobi or practitioner of ninjutsu (''ninpo''). The term was largely popularized by novelist Yamada Futaro in his novel ''Ninpō Hakkenden'' (忍法八犬伝) in 1964 ...

and Japanese agent played by

in the 1967

film, ''You Only Live Twice''. Wakabayashi convinced director

Lewis Gilbert Lewis Gilbert (6 March 1920 – 23 February 2018) was an English film director, producer and screenwriter who directed more than 40 films during six decades; among them such varied titles as '' Reach for the Sky'' (1956), ''Sink the Bismarck!' ...

to change the name of her character to one closer to her own *Akiko Hiroguchi, a girl born with fur in the 1985

Kurt Vonnegut Kurt Vonnegut Jr. (November 11, 1922 – April 11, 2007) was an American writer known for his satirical and darkly humorous novels. In a career spanning over 50 years, he published fourteen novels, three short-story collections, five plays, and ...

novel ''Galápagos'' *Akiko Minase (水瀬秋子), a supporting character in the

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

visual novel A , often abbreviated as VN, is a form of digital semi-interactive fiction. Visual novels are often associated with and used in the medium of video games, but are not always labeled as such themselves. They combine a textual narrative with sta ...

, and

manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...

series '' Kanon'' *Akiko Narumi (鳴海亜樹子), a character in the

tokusatsu is a Japanese term for live action film or television drama that makes heavy use of practical special effects. ''Tokusatsu'' entertainment mainly refers to science fiction, War film, war, fantasy, or Horror film, horror media featuring such te ...

drama series ''

Kamen Rider W , is a 2009-2010 Japanese tokusatsu drama, the eleventh series in the Heisei period run of the Kamen Rider Series and the twentieth overall. It premiered following the finale of ''Kamen Rider Decade'' on September 6, 2009, and aired alongside '' S ...

'' *Akiko Bloom, a character in CutiePieMarzia (Marzia Bisognin)'s novel ''Dream House'' *Akiko Yosano, a character in Bungo Stray Dogs {{given name Japanese feminine given names