Aki

Aki is a fictional character created for the 1967 James Bond film You Only Live Twice. In the film, Aki, played by Akiko Wakabayashi, is a female ninja agent with the fictional Japanese Secret Intelligence Service (SIS). Creation Aki does not appear in Ian Fleming's 1964 novel. She was originally named Suki in Roald Dahl's screenplay. According to The James Bond Films, the character was "Dahl's tribute to the Japanese woman of the Sixties". The character is portrayed as an attractive female Japanese SIS agent, a skilled ninja and an expert driver who often uses her skills at driving her white Toyota 2000GT sports car equipped with several high-tech communication devices. Mie Hama was cast to play Suki, but she had trouble learning English; to solve the problem, she and Akiko Wakabayashi, originally cast to play the part of almost-silent Kissy Suzuki, decided to swap their respective roles. Wakabayashi then convinced director Lewis Gilbert to change the name of her character to Aki. While Kissy acts as the film's main Bond girl, Aki serves as Bond's main contact and apparent love interest during the early and middle sections. When Kissy is set to be introduced as Bond's cover wife, Aki's role draws to a close. Her death shortly afterwards clears the way for Kissy to take on the role.