Wakabayashi Akiko

Exotic, alluring actress who worked for Toho during the 1960s. Wakabayashi Akiko aspired to be an actress since high school, when she began auditioning for Toho. She originally auditioned for the role of Princess Yuki in Kurosawa Akira's The Hidden Fortress (1958) but lost out to Uehara Misa, who was handpicked by the director on a whim. She was invited to join Toho anyway, making her debut in Honda Ishirô's Song for a Bride (1958), and her career quickly picked up steam from there.

She appeared in several sci-fi and fantasy films, most notably as the amnesiac princess in Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster (1964) and the sole female in the diamond gang in Dogora (1964).

Wakabayashi is best known in the West as Aki opposite Sean Connery's James Bond in You Only Live Twice (1967). She was joined during production by actress Hama Mie, who played Kissy Suzuki. The actresses switched roles before filming because Wakabayashi's English was better and the Aki character appeared in a longer portion of the film. She also portrayed the female spy lead in Taniguchi Senkichi's International Secret Police: Key of Keys (1965), which later became Woody Allen's What's Up, Tiger Lily?.

She remained with Toho until the studio began releasing actors from their contracts in the early 1970s. While most actors made the switch to television, Wakabayashi retired from acting entirely. She lived in relative seclusion since then, although reports in 2014 announced she would provide audio commentaries on Toho releases of her works.