Akie Abe Net Worth

Net Worth	$ 4,000,000
Real name	Akie Abe (née Matsuzaki)
Source of Wealth	Radio DJ career, wife of Japanese late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and involvement in Japanese public duties
Profession	Socialite, entrepreneur, and radio personality
Spouse/Partner	Widow of the late Japanese Prime Minister
Zodiac	Aries
Gender	Female
Height	157 cm / 5 ft 1 inch
Nationality	Japanese

Biography

Akie Abe, née Matsuzaki, is the wife of the late Prime Minister of Japan and President of the Liberal Democratic Party, Shinzo Abe, who was assassinated on July 8, 2022. Akie was also popular for being a DJ at a local radio station in Shimonoseki, known by her disc jockey name “Akky.”^[1]

The Prime Minister’s wife landed in Japanese newspapers’ headlines for her relationship with the conservative Moritomo Gakuen kindergarten in Osaka.

In 2017, she was embroiled in the Japanese kindergarten scandal, where the central Japanese government sold a government-owned real estate to Moritomo Gakuen for only 14% of its appraised value.

Despite the scandal, Abe is one of Japan's most beloved First Ladies. She set an example for future wives of political leaders with her character, hard work, independence, and outspoken and progressive political views. Her net worth is estimated at $4 million.

Early life and career

Akie Abe was born on 10 June 1962, as Akie Matsuzaki. She is the daughter of her father, Akio Matsuzaki, a magnate and former president of one of Japan's largest confectionery companies, Morinaga & Co, and her mother, Emiko Matsuzaki.

Abe was fortunate to be born into a prominent and wealthy family that could give her the advantage of a prestigious education. She attended Sacred Heart School, a Roman Catholic private elementary and high school in Tokyo, before graduating from Sacred Heart Professional Training College.

Even though Abe came from a wealthy family, she wanted to build a career on her own. After graduating, she started working at Dentsu Inc., one of the largest advertising agencies in Japan and globally.

While working at this job, she met her future husband, Shinzo Abe, who then worked as a political assistant at that time. ^[2]

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bwtdk_Eh8CS/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

A unique First Lady with unusual occupations

After the couple got married in 1987, being confined to a domestic role and playing shadow to her Prime Minister husband was not on her agenda.

Akie decided to change career paths and took an unusual job position for a First Lady.

She started working as a DJ at a local radio station in her husband’s hometown Shimonoseki and became popular with her disc jockey name, “DJ Akky.”

However, when her husband became the Prime Minister in 2006, Abe took a break from her career to focus on her first lady duties.

Nevertheless, Akie dove into another venture the next year as Shinzo Abe resigned from his prime minister position. She opened her izakaya restaurant named “Uzu,” which translates to “whirlwind.” Abe was so dedicated to her restaurant that she even grew rice in a paddy in her husband’s home prefecture.^[3]

https://www.instagram.com/p/BxXP6eDFkyG/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Although Akie had a position and name to uphold, she wasn’t afraid to roll up her sleeves and get to work. CNN reports that she was photographed wearing traditional women’s work pants, standing barefoot in the muddy water, and planting rice in the patty.

Akie was also not afraid of stepping outside the conventional box, constituting what a politician’s wife and first lady should do and act like.

Before stepping back into the First Lady position when her husband resumed office, Akie got her Master’s degree in Social Design Studies from Rikkyo University in March 2011.

Public duties and political views

Not only was Akie being her own person and working on her career while taking the position of First Lady, but she frequently challenged her husband’s political views and supported progressive causes, which appealed to the Japanese public.

Abe supported Japan’s LGBTQ+ community and appeared at the gay pride parade in Tokyo in 2014. The First Lady also supported the medical use of marijuana.

Akie spoke her mind openly and opposed her husband on more serious political matters, such as his support for the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal and expansion of a United States Marine Corps base.

Her outspokenness and open opposition to her husband's views humorously dubbed her the "domestic opposition party."

Akie was also tasked with entertaining Melania Trump when ex-president Donald Trump and ex-first lady Melanie Trump visited Japan.[Mozesh da stavish slika ako najdesh od Insta ili Twitter].

She also significantly contributed to enhancing women’s rights in Japan and beyond. Abe partnered with previous First Lady Michelle Obama for the “Let Girls Learn” project that put 62 million girls in school worldwide. ^[2]

She also spearheaded the “Womenomics” initiative, which propagated that women reaching more senior work positions is essential for the Japanese economy.

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Akie’s relationship with her husband

Public affection in politics is uncommon and even frowned upon in Japan. However, Akie and Shinzo Abe were affectionate towards each other and weren’t shy to show it in public. They were often photographed holding hands while getting on or off planes.

Akie was also the first ever Japanese First Lady to use the social media channels Facebook and Instagram and share bits of her private life with the public. She regularly posted photos of their daily life, which often included her husband.

https://www.instagram.com/p/ByflKDCDtNR/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Unfortunately, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was shot and killed in an assassination attack on 8 July 2022 while giving a campaign speech at Yamato-Saidaiji Station, Nara.^[4]The assassin fired twice using a homemade gun. The longest-serving Japanese Prime Minister was the second politician in Japan's postwar history to be given a state funeral - a decision that divided the Japanese public.^[5]

Controversies

Akie Abe had a close relationship and collaboration with the Moritomo Gakuen kindergarten, which was notorious for its conservative and militarist culture, whereby they made children memorize the Imperial Rescript on Education, an outdated practice of reciting a policy on the guiding principles of education on the Empire of Japan from 1890 to 1945^[6]and employing anti-Korean education.

Abe was named the honorary principal of the elementary school developed by Moritomo Gakuen.

In 2017, Akie Abe was implicated in a scandal after it became known that the Japanese government sold state-owned real estate to Moritomo Gakuen for 14% of the total appraised price. Right after the scandal broke, Abe resigned from her position.

Before her resignation, Moritomo Gakuen deleted a message by Abe endorsing the school’s nationalistic moral education program.^[7]

After the Moritomo Gakuen scandal, Akie significantly reduced her social media activity.

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Conclusion

Akie Abe is the widow of the late Shinzo Abe, Japan’s longest-serving Prime Minister. Abe was Japan’s beloved First Lady and is famous for her outspoken and progressive political views. She was also popular for having worked various unusual job positions during her role as First Lady, including a DJ at a radio station and an izakaya restaurant owner.

She broke the traditional stereotypes of how a Japanese first lady should act and present herself. Abe challenged a lot of her late husband’s conservative political views. She was a leading proponent of many women's rights initiatives, including the “Let Girls Learn” project and the “Womenomics” initiative.

Akie Abe’s net worth is estimated at $4 million.

References