Yuko Akimoto and her brother began the right way by choosing their parents well. Their father, Minoru Akimoto, has an M.A. from Michigan State University. From a business career at the top, he retired as executive vice president of Itochu Corp. Their poetic, music-loving mother, Taeko, runs her own musical agency.
Yuko's brother is an established periodontist. Yuko is a concert soprano.
She appreciates her advantages and the loving care that always surrounded her. Looking back, though, she says that her own life was not always plain sailing. "I was about 7 when my family moved to New York," she said. "I was plunged into English at the United Nations International School, and it was very hard for me to adjust. Then when we returned to Japan after three years, I had to jump in at school here to catch up." Though she spoke English well, struggling to conform to the set sentence structures in her grammar lessons confused and inhibited her. Additionally, she attended a special Japanese school for "returnee" children.