Akie Abe

Akie Abe (安倍 昭恵, Abe Akie, born June 10, 1962) is the wife of Shinzō Abe, the current Prime Minister of Japan.

Life

Born Akie Matsuzaki (松崎昭恵, Matsuzaki Akie), Akie is regarded as a socialite. She is from a wealthy Japanese family; her father is the former president of Morinaga & Co., one of Japan's largest confectionery companies. She was educated at Sacred Heart School in Tokyo (or Seishin Joshi Gakuin), a Roman Catholic private elementary through high school, then graduated from Sacred Heart Professional Training College. Akie received a master's degree in Social Design Studies from the Rikkyo University in March 2011.

Abe later worked for Dentsu Inc., the world's largest advertising agency, before marrying Shinzo Abe in 1987. She is popularly known as the "domestic opposition party" due to her outspoken views, which often contradict her husband's. Following her husband's first stint as prime minister, she opened an organic izakaya in the Kanda district of Tokyo, but is not active in management due to the urging of her mother-in-law.^[1] The couple have no children, having undergone unsuccessful fertility treatments earlier in their marriage.^[2]

Akky

In the late 1990s, Abe worked as a radio disc jockey in her husband's hometown of Shimonoseki. She was popular in the broadcast area and was known by her jockey name, "Akky". She is also a fan of South Korean soap operas and actors Bae Yong-joon and Park Yong-ha.^[3]

Activism for LGBT rights

Abe is a supporter of sexual minorities and the LGBT community. On April 27, 2014, she joined the gay pride parade in Tokyo to show her support for broader rights to Japan's LGBT community.^[4]

References

External links

• Akie Abe at the Internet Movie Database

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Akie Abe.