Akiko Wakabayashi

Acting

Akiko Wakabayashi

Born

1939-12-13 (86)

Place of birth

Ota, Tokyo Prefecture, Japan

Known for

Acting

Credits

49 titles

Akiko Wakabayashi (born December 13, 1939 in Ōta, Tokyo) is a Japanese actress, best known in English-speaking countries for her role as Bond girl, Aki in the 1967 James Bond movie You Only Live Twice. Prior to this, she made many movies in her native Japan, especially Toho Studio's monster movies such as Dagora, the Space Monster and Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster (both of which were also released under various other titles). When production of You Only Live Twice began, Wakabayashi was originally slated to play the role of Kissy Suzuki whilst her co-star Mie Hama played Suki, one of Tiger Tanaka's top agents. When learning English proved to be a major hurdle to Hama, the women switched…

Known for

You Only Live Twice poster
6.6

A mysterious spacecraft captures Russian and American space capsules and brings the two superpowers to the brink of war. James Bond investigates the case in Japan and comes face to face with his archenemy Blofeld.

You Only Live Twice

1967

King Kong vs. Godzilla poster
6.9

The advertising director of Pacific Pharmaceuticals, frustrated with the low ratings of their sponsored TV program, seeks a more sensationalist approach. He orders his staff to Faro Island to capture King Kong for exploitation. As Godzilla re-emerges, a media frenzy generates with Pacific looking to capitalize off of the ultimate battle.

King Kong vs. Godzilla

1962

Shirley's World poster
6.0

Shirley's World is a British television sitcom initially aired on ABC during the U.S. 1971-72 television season, then by ITV in the United Kingdom. Co-produced by the British ITC Entertainment and American producer Sheldon Leonard, the short-lived series stars Shirley MacLaine as photojournalist Shirley Logan and John Gregson as her editor Dennis Croft.

Shirley's World

1972

King Kong vs. Godzilla poster
6.6

When an underhanded pharmaceutical company goes to a remote tropical island to steal King Kong for advertising purposes, they get more than they bargained for when the gigantic ape attacks an unsuspecting village and an enormous octopus.

King Kong vs. Godzilla

1963

Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster poster
7.0

After a meteorite unleashes a three-headed beast upon Tokyo, Mothra tries to unite with Godzilla and Rodan to battle the extraterrestrial threat.

Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster

1964

What's Up, Tiger Lily? poster
5.4

In comic Woody Allen's film debut, he took the Japanese action film "International Secret Police: Key of Keys" and re-dubbed it, changing the plot to make it revolve around a secret egg salad recipe.

What's Up, Tiger Lily?

1966

Film credits

1960s · 40 titles

You Only Live Twice poster
6.6

A mysterious spacecraft captures Russian and American space capsules and brings the two superpowers to the brink of war. James Bond investigates the case in Japan and comes face to face with his archenemy Blofeld.

You Only Live Twice

1967

King Kong vs. Godzilla poster
6.9

The advertising director of Pacific Pharmaceuticals, frustrated with the low ratings of their sponsored TV program, seeks a more sensationalist approach. He orders his staff to Faro Island to capture King Kong for exploitation. As Godzilla re-emerges, a media frenzy generates with Pacific looking to capitalize off of the ultimate battle.

King Kong vs. Godzilla

1962

King Kong vs. Godzilla poster
6.6

When an underhanded pharmaceutical company goes to a remote tropical island to steal King Kong for advertising purposes, they get more than they bargained for when the gigantic ape attacks an unsuspecting village and an enormous octopus.

King Kong vs. Godzilla

1963

Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster poster
7.0

After a meteorite unleashes a three-headed beast upon Tokyo, Mothra tries to unite with Godzilla and Rodan to battle the extraterrestrial threat.

Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster

1964

What's Up, Tiger Lily? poster
5.4

In comic Woody Allen's film debut, he took the Japanese action film "International Secret Police: Key of Keys" and re-dubbed it, changing the plot to make it revolve around a secret egg salad recipe.

What's Up, Tiger Lily?

1966

When a Woman Ascends the Stairs poster
8.0

Keiko, whom everyone calls Mama, narrates her story: she's a hostess on the Ginza, 30, a widow. She describes life's vicious cycle: acting cheerful around drunks, dressing and living well to convey confidence, needing money for these expenses and for her demanding mother and brother, and knowing she's growing older.

When a Woman Ascends the Stairs

1960

Adventure in Kigan Castle poster
6.2

Osami, a soldier-of-fortune from Japan, joins with priest Ensai in a quest for the ashes of the great Buddha. Their journey takes them to a kingdom in the Middle East, where they find intrigue and romance in the court of an evil king.

Adventure in Kigan Castle

1966

Samurai Pirate poster
5.9

An adventurous and daring sailor sets sail to the castle of an ailing king to stop an evil premier, hungry for power and wealth, from succeeding the throne and marrying the king's beautiful daughter. Along the way, with the help of some courageous rebels and a lustful wizard, he must overcome the powers of a bewitching witch, a band of ruthless pirates, and the castle's Imperial guards. He must also free those kidnapped into slavery and restore the king's reputation.

Samurai Pirate

1963

Dogora poster
6.7

A floating amorphous life-form descends from the atmosphere to consume carbon in the form of diamonds.

Dogora

1964

Interpol Code 8 poster
7.5

Agent Jiro Kitami attempts to stop a smuggling ring from shipping arms to Vietcong guerrillas.

Interpol Code 8

1963

Yes! Yes! 3 Young Girls poster
NR

Musical comedy starring Watanabe Productions recording stars Nakao, Sono, and Ito as Toho's new "Sannin musume," three young women intended for 1960s audiences what Hibari Misora, Izumi Yukimura, and Chiemi Eri had been in the 50s.

Yes! Yes! 3 Young Girls

1963

The Stranger Within a Woman poster
7.4

Tashiro coincidentally meets his best friend Sugimoto in a bar very close to the apartment in which Sugimoto’s wayward wife is found dead. Although Tashiro is not a suspect in the police investigation, he is racked with guilt and confesses to his wife, Masako. In an effort to further relieve his tortured sense of guilt, he then confesses to Sugimoto. Neither his wife nor his friend can believe that he could have been involved.

The Stranger Within a Woman

1966

The Weed of Crime poster
7.0

Toho-produced crime drama involving the drug trade.

The Weed of Crime

1962

Anything For Success poster
7.0

A "hustler's hustler" (Takarada), works his way up the corporate ladder at a camera company. His biggest scheme involves winning the business of a foreign visitor by setting him up with a beautiful "model" (Tsukasa), actually a bar hostess, but the plan backfires when the would-be executive falls for the woman himself.

Anything For Success

1962

A Keg of Powder poster
8.5

In the third installment in the "Kokusai himitsu keisatsu" series, agent Jiro Kitami investigates the mysterious disappearance of a prominent scientist. Edited into Woody Allen's "What's Up, Tiger Lily?" along with the 4th film in the series, "Key of Keys".

A Keg of Powder

1964

Bandits on the Wind poster
9.0

1961 Japanese movie

Bandits on the Wind

1961

Whirlpool of Love poster
NR

1962 Japanese movie

Whirlpool of Love

1962

Key of Keys poster
6.8

Intelligence director Suritai asks agent Kitami to steal money from anti-government guerrillas.

Key of Keys

1965

Our Failures poster
NR

Tells the story of Shintaro, a lawyer who quits his job to work at a camera factory, and his love adventures.

Our Failures

1962

Achan's Baby Gang poster
9.0

Based on the comic by Fuyuhiko Okabe.

Achan's Baby Gang

1961

The Crimson Sky poster
9.0

1962 Japanese movie

The Crimson Sky

1962

No artwork available
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Ganpā kachō

1961

It Started In The Alps poster
8.0

Seventh movie of the Wakadaishō series directed by Kengo Furusawa.

It Started In The Alps

1966

Pig and Goldfish poster
NR

1962 Japanese movie

Pig and Goldfish

1962

Girl from Hong Kong poster
10.0

Unusual race relations melodrama from West Germany follows a German sailor who meets and weds a Chinese woman while on leave in Hong Kong, only to meet with disapproval from his family and friends when the couple returns to Europe.

Girl from Hong Kong

1961

Kanpai! Sararīman shokun poster
NR

1962 Japanese movie

Kanpai! Sararīman shokun

1962

Hello, Baby poster
10.0

A young Tokyo couple’s blissful newlywed life is turned upside down when an unexpected pregnancy arrives, sending them on a whirlwind quest for support from eccentric relatives and well-meaning neighbors.

Hello, Baby

1964

Youth Season poster
10.0

1962 Japanese movie

Youth Season

1962

New Third Class Executive: Fortune Teller poster
9.0

World Electric's top ad model disappears, throwing the company into disarray. A fortune-teller’s influence spreads through upper management, sending staff on a misguided search. Misinformation, internal friction, and unexpected revelations push the company to its limits.

New Third Class Executive: Fortune Teller

1960

Sensation Seekers poster
9.0

1963 Japanese movie

Sensation Seekers

1963

Ginza Tomboy poster
NR

A rebellious heiress clashes with gangsters, dodges an arranged marriage, and unexpectedly falls for a principled lawyer as her father confronts past corruption and starts anew.

Ginza Tomboy

1960

Akiko poster
7.8

The quaint life of Ottavia, a widow living in Rome, is turned upside down when a young and pretty Japanese girl knocks at her door, claiming to be the daughter of her late husband, an Italian military officer who went to Japan on a secret mission during WWII and reportedly killed in action there.

Akiko

1961

No artwork available
7.0

Modern love story about three disparate sisters, one (Tsukasa) of whom who suspects her husband (Kobayashi) has been unfaithful.

Respect, Flatter, and Love

1960

Walleyed Nippon poster
8.0

Comedy about a Japanese-American professor, a nuclear scientist, who returns to Japan to search for a typically subservient Japanese wife.

Walleyed Nippon

1963

Diamonds of the Andes poster
10.0

Romantic action film set against the beautiful backdrop of Rio de Janeiro. Jiro Ibuki has decided to leave the world of the yakuza and live with his fiancée Reiko.

Diamonds of the Andes

1968

Sararīman Gonza to Sukejū ren'ai kōsa-ten poster
NR

1962 Japanese movie

Sararīman Gonza to Sukejū ren'ai kōsa-ten

1962

More Than 10,000 Women But... poster
NR

A newlywed couple moves into an apartment complex where each family faces everyday problems.

More Than 10,000 Women But...

1966

A Salaryman's Reckless Family poster
NR

Untaro Tatsumura, a pioneer of the salaryman class, had retired from active duty and was living a leisurely life in Ito with his wife, while serving as an advisor to seven companies. However, when he announced that he intended to donate his estate to social welfare causes, the Tatsumura household was thrown into an uproar.

A Salaryman's Reckless Family

1963

Reporters from the Sky poster
8.0

Action melodrama.

Reporters from the Sky

1960

The Orientals poster
7.0

Episodic, globe-trotting quasi-mondo focused on women of the East.

The Orientals

1960

1950s · 8 titles

Series credits