Akiko Yano is a Japanese musician and voice actor, born on February 13, 1955, in Tokyo. While she is primarily renowned as a celebrated jazz pianist and singer-songwriter, she has also contributed her voice to several animated films, most notably those produced by Studio Ghibli.

Yano's career as a voice actor is closely linked with the renowned animation studio. One of her earliest and most prominent voice roles was in the 1999 Studio Ghibli film My Neighbors the Yamadas, where she provided the voice for the character Fujiwara-Sensei. In addition to this voice role, she also performed the theme song for the film, highlighting the intersection of her dual talents in music and voice acting for the project.

In 2006, she voiced all the characters in another Ghibli short film, Mon Mon the Water Spider. For this project, she was the sole voice actor, playing the roles of the water spider Mon Mon, Miss Pond Skater, and the Water flea. That same year, she also lent her voice to the Ghibli short film Looking for a Home. Her collaboration with Studio Ghibli continued in 2008 with Hayao Miyazaki's feature film Ponyo, in which she voiced Ponyo's sisters.

Yano's contributions to animation extend beyond voice acting. For the 1997 film Princess Mononoke, she composed music, further demonstrating her close working relationship with Studio Ghibli and her broad creative involvement in the world of animation. Her career is characterized by this seamless blend of performance, both as a musician and a voice artist, for acclaimed animated works.