She garnered much attention in 1998 for co-starring in the drama "Kamisama, mou sukoshi dake" alongside famed actor Kaneshiro Takeshi as Kano Masaki, a 16-year-old who contracts HIV after a one-night stand to earn money for concert tickets. October of that same year she was given her first radio program, "Fukada Kyoko IN MY ROOM", which lasted until March 2002. The next year she starred for the first time in the drama "Oni no Sumika".
Fukada's debut as a musician came in 1999 with the single "Saigo no Kajitsu" in May and a mini-album in November. The mini-album, "Dear..." showcased not only her vocal talents, but an instrumental track of Fukada playing "Do They Know It's Christmas?" on the piano was also included. (Her original composition "Into the Light" was featured as well.) Meanwhile, Fukada was still pursuing her acting career and in 2000, her song "How?" was used for the film "Shisha no Gakuensai", which was also her first starring role in a film. In 2002 Fukada co-starred in the Japanese/Korean drama Friends with Korean actor Won Bin, a mini-series about two people from different countries who both meet in Hong Kong on vacation. The drama was the first to be broadcast simultaneously in both countries. She also held a major role in the popular film Dolls as fictional idol Yamaguchi Haruna.