is a Japanese singer, musician and actress. Her close friends over the years include Susumu Hirasawa.

Career

After gaining attention a guest singer for the New Wave band Halmens and her acting roles in Japanese dramas and commercials for the

Washlet is a registered trademark of the Japanese toilet company TOTO and is used for their line of cleansing toilet seats with water spray feature for genital and anal cleansing. The Washlet is an electronic bidet and commonplace on toilets in Japa ...

, she began her professional music career in the early 1980s as a singer. In 1984, she released her debut solo album ''Tamahime-sama'' under the label of YEN records'','' containing themes of menstruation, womanhood, and romance with a recurring insect and pupa motif. The following year, she came out with album ''Suki Suki Daisuki,'' a satirical take on

aidoru An is a type of entertainer marketed for image, attractiveness, and personality in Japanese pop culture. Idols are primarily singers with training in acting, dancing, and modeling. Idols are commercialized through merchandise and endorsements b ...

music. Although her eccentric personality and unconventional style prevented her from attaining major pop success, she survived as an influential and respected underground music figure both solo and as the lead singer of the

Shōwa era The was the period of Japanese history corresponding to the reign of Emperor Shōwa ( Hirohito) from December 25, 1926, until his death on January 7, 1989. It was preceded by the Taishō era. The pre-1945 and post-war Shōwa periods are almos ...

-themed group

Guernica Guernica (, ), official name (reflecting the Basque language) Gernika (), is a town in the province of Biscay, in the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country, Spain. The town of Guernica is one part (along with neighbouring Lumo) of the mu ...

(1982–89) with former Halmens member

Koji Ueno Koji, Kōji, Kohji or Kouji may refer to: *Kōji (given name), a masculine Japanese given name *Kōji (Heian period) (康治), Japanese era, 1142–1144 *Kōji (Muromachi period) (弘治), Japanese era, 1555–1558 *Koji orange, a Japanese citrus ...

and her most commercial project Yapoos (1984-1995 and occasionally since,) where she is particularly noted for her connection to

eroguro is an artistic genre that puts its focus on eroticism, sexual corruption, and decadence.Silverberg, Miriam Rom. "By Way of a Preface: Defining ''Erotic Grotesque Nonsense''". Galley copy of the preface for ''Erotic Grotesque Nonsense: The Mass C ...

culture. Over the years she has formed many temporary backing bands such as the Jun Togawa Unit to accompany her. Generally the differentiation between her self-named bands and the Yapoos is a greater degree of collaboration in the latter. Notable collaborators over the years include

Haruomi Hosono , sometimes credited as Harry Hosono, is a Japanese musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. He is considered to be one of the most influential musicians in Japanese pop music history, credited with shaping the sound of Japanese pop for ...

who produced and wrote music for some of her earlier works. Her late sister

Kyoko Togawa is a very common feminine Japanese given name. Not to be confused with Kiyoko. Possible writings The final syllable "ko" is typically written with the kanji character for child, 子. It is a common suffix to female names in Japan. The first sy ...

was an actress who at times ventured into the music world and cross collaborated at times. Around 1990 Jun shared management with Susumu Hirasawa resulting in quite a number of collaborations. She has acted in a number of films, such as '' Untamagiru'' and ''

The Family Game is a 1983 Japanese movie directed by Yoshimitsu Morita. ''The Family Game'' received several awards including the best movie of the year as selected by Japanese critics. Although the movie missed the Japan Academy Prize for the Best Picture (lo ...

''. In 1989, Susumu Hirasawa, who was currently freezing

P-MODEL P-Model (also typeset as P-MODEL and P. Model) was a Japanese electronic rock band started in 1979 by members of the defunct progressive rock band Mandrake. The band has experienced many lineup revisions over the years but frontman Susumu Hira ...

, joined the Yapoos as support, appearing in the "Bach Studio II" section of the TV program "Yume de Aietara", where he played in a session with Downtown, Ucchan Nanchan and Susumu Hirasawa. In 1990, she joined Susumu Hirasawa's "World Turbine Tour," a live tour to celebrate the release of his second solo album, "Ghosts of Science," with Hikaru Kotobuki, Katsuhiko Akiyama, Kazuhide Akimoto (Akimoto Kitsune), Kazutoki Umezu, and others. She sang the duets Rocket, World Turbine, and Carboy and Indian with Hirasawa. Togawa has also toured with Hirasawa on other occasions. In 1991, Togawa appeared on the TV Tokyo program "Jun Togawa x Susumu Hirasawa (MC: Kenzo Saeki) "Jun Togawa Revival Festival!" In 1992, Susumu Hirasawa offered her "Beals (1992)" as a Yapoos song. In 1995, "Showa Kyounen" was released to commemorate the 10th anniversary of Jun Togawa's performing career. Based on the concept of "covering nostalgic melodies of the Showa era," the album contained six songs arranged by Susumu Hirasawa. The songs include "Ribbon Knight" composed by

Isao Tomita , often known simply as Tomita, was a Japanese composer, regarded as one of the pioneers of electronic music and space music, and as one of the most famous producers of analog synthesizer arrangements. In addition to creating note-by-note realiz ...

and arranged by Susumu Hirasawa. Her 2004 album, ''Togawa Fiction'', with the Jun Togawa Band, featured elements of

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...

electropop Electropop is a hybrid music genre combining elements of electronic and pop genres. Writer Hollin Jones has described it as a variant of synth-pop with heavy emphasis on its electronic sound. The genre was developed in the 1980s and saw a re ...

and other genres. In 2008, she released a career-spanning three-CD boxed set, ''Togawa Legend Self Select Best & Rare 1979-2008'' which featured many of her most popular songs along with several scarcer tracks and hard to find collaborations. In a 2001 interview, influential alternative musician and producer Jim O'Rourke, amongst others, picked a Togawa cover song album ''20th Jun Togawa'' as one of his "best albums of the year." She marked the 35th anniversary of her professional career in 2016 by releasing new collaboration albums with Vampillia and

Hijokaidan is a Japanese noise and free improvisation group with a revolving lineup that has ranged from two members to as many as fourteen in its early days. The group is the project of guitarist , its one constant member, who is head and owner of the Os ...

, her first new recordings in twelve years.

The relationship between Jun Togawa and Susumu Hirasawa

Jun Togawa and Susumu Hirasawa became close friends as they shared stories about each other's past and how they perceived gender and people. They participated in each other's tours, and in the 1990s, they worked together on music and gender-related conversations in magazines and on TV. Hirasawa says, "It's a difficult task to determine my favorite Jun Togawa song," referring to one of her masterpieces, "Giving Up Peshiganga," as "that is the god who made god." Togawa has also covered Hirasawa's solo song "Venus" at her own live performances.

Discography

Solo albums

* 984.01.24 ''Tamahime-sama'' * 985.11.10 ''Suki Suki Daisuki''

Collaboration albums

* 985.03.25 ''Kyokuto Ian Shoka'' (as Jun Togawa Unit) * 016.01.20 "Togawa Kaidan (戸川階段)" (with

. * 016.12.14 ''Watashi Ga Nakou Hototogisu'' (with Vampillia) * 018.11.21 ''Jun Togawa avec Kei Ookubo'' (with Kei Ookubo)

Albums with Yapoos

* 984.04.25 ''Ura-Tamahime (live)'' * 987.12.16 ''Yapoos Keikaku'' * 988.09.21 ''Daitenshi No Youni'' * 991.06.07 ''Dial Y O Mawase'' * 992.10.28 ''Dadada ism'' * 995.01.31 ''Yapoos No Fushin Na Koudou (live 1993)'' * 995.06.21 ''HYS'' * 019.12.11 ''ヤプーズの不審な行動令和元年 - Suspicious Behavior Of Yapoos The 1st Year Of Reiwa Era'' (Yapoos)

Albums with
Guernica Guernica (, ), official name (reflecting the Basque language) Gernika (), is a town in the province of Biscay, in the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country, Spain. The town of Guernica is one part (along with neighbouring Lumo) of the mu ...

* 982.xx.xx ''Kaizou E No Yakudou'' (with

) * 988.xx.xx ''Shinseiki E No Unga'' (with Guernica) * 989.03.05 ''Denri-sou Kara no Manazashi'' (with

)

Solo mini albums

* 989.12.16 ''Showa Kyonen'' * 000.09.25 ''20th Jun Togawa'' * 004.09.02 ''Togawa Fiction'' (as Jun Togawa Band)

Singles, EPs

* 982.12.05 ''Ginrin wa Utau / Maronie Dokuhon''

* 984.05.25 ''Radar Man / Boshi Jusei'' (Jun Togawa) * 985.04.10 ''Poesy / Poesy instrumental'' (Jun Togawa) * 985.10.25 ''Osozaki Girl'' (Jun Togawa) * 986.02.10 ''Sayonara wo Oshiete'' (Jun Togawa) * 987.12.16 ''Barbara Sexaroid / Cecil Cut'' (Yapoos) *

990.10.21 99 may refer to: * 99 (number), the natural number following 98 and preceding 100 * one of the years 99 BC, AD 99, 1999, 2099, etc. Art, entertainment, and media * '' The 99'', a comic series based on Islamic culture Film, television and radi ...

''Virgin Blues'' (Jun Togawa) * 991.07.21 ''Infinite Productions Remix'' (Jun Togawa in the '90s) * 991.05.02 ''Men's Junan'' (Yapoos) * 995.03.01 ''Honou no Shoujo'' (Yapoos) * 003.04.10 ''CD-Y (mini-album)'' (Yapoos)

Compilations

* 987.xx.xx ''Tokyo No Yaban (Tokyo Barbarism)'' (Jun Togawa) Remixed compilation * 991.05.21 ''Yapoos Best'' (Yapoos) * 996.09.26 ''Twins Super Best of Togawa Jun'' (2-CD set) * 001.12.19 ''Twin Very Best Collection'' (2-CD set) (Jun Togawa) * 002.12.04 ''In Memoria Futuri'' (three CD boxed set comprising Guernica's three original albums plus demos, live tracks, outtakes and live video footage of Guernica performing "Dokuro no enbukyoku" at Club Quattro, Shibuya, Tokyo on 27 July 1988) (Guernica) * 008.07.09 ''Togawa Legend Self Select Best & Rare 1979-2008'' (3 CD boxed set) (Jun Togawa) * 009.07.22 ''Teichiku Works. Jun Togawa 30th Anniversary'' (6 CDs and 3 DVDs). The first 5 CDs are reissued albums with bonus tracks, the sixth CD features previously unreleased live and demo recordings of Guernica. * 012.07.25 ''Mushi no Onna - Mika Ninagawa Selection''

Notable guest appearances

* 984.08.25 ''Chojiku Korodasutan Ryokoki'' (Apogee & Perigee) Jun Togawa provides vocals for 4 tracks. * 985.00.00 ''Shijin no Ie (House Of The Poet)'' (Joe Jackson & The Tokyo Symphony Orchestra) Jun Togawa provides all vocals. * 989.09.01 ''

Water in Time and Space is Susumu Hirasawa's first solo album. Background In December 1988, Hirasawa decided to put his post-punk/ new wave band P-Model on hiatus after spending two years being unable to arrange a recording deal, feeling that the group's continued ex ...

'' (Susumu Hirasawa) Jun Togawa provides vocals for the track . * 990.05.25 ''

The Ghost in Science is Susumu Hirasawa's second solo album. Overview ''The Ghost in Science'' is marked by a whimsical, futuristic thematic in which Hirasawa paints himself as a mad scientist. It has a sound similar to other Hirasawa albums of the same era, thou ...

'' (Susumu Hirasawa) Jun Togawa provides vocals for the tracks & . * 990.10.25 ''

error CD An error (from the Latin ''error'', meaning "wandering") is an action which is inaccurate or incorrect. In some usages, an error is synonymous with a mistake. The etymology derives from the Latin term 'errare', meaning 'to stray'. In statistics ...

'' (Susumu Hirasawa) Jun Togawa provides vocals for the track . * 991.05.25 ''

Virtual Rabbit ''Virtual Rabbit'' is Susumu Hirasawa's third solo album. Overview ''Virtual Rabbit'' was made in the same style as the previous two albums, although greater in scale, with compositions more in line with Hirasawa's later solo work, and with a lar ...

'' (Susumu Hirasawa) Jun Togawa provides vocals for the track . * 992.06.xx ''Histoire du Soldat'' (Neko Saito, Koichi Makigami, Jun Togawa, Demon Kogure) Jun Togawa plays the part of the Princess and also narrates this version of Igor Stravinsky's piece, conducted by Neko Saito. * 001.08.30 ''All Dogs Go To Heaven'' (CD Soundtrack to Keralino Sandorovich's stage play) Jun Togawa sings on three tracks: , ''Open The Night'' and * 002.03.26 ''Dreams'' (Otomo Yoshihide's New Jazz Ensemble) Jun Togawa provides vocals for 3 tracks. * 005.01.15 ''Good Girls Get Fed, Bad Girls Get Eaten'' (Tricomi featuring Jun Togawa) Jun Togawa provides vocals for six of the eight tracks. * 012.02.29 '' HALDYN DOME'' (Susumu Hirasawa) Box Set that contains all previous appearances. * 017.10.25"Like the 20th Century" (Kei Ohkubo) Jun Togawa provides guest vocals for Vocalise No.1 and 20 Seiki Mitai Ni

References

External links

Jun Togawa, Guernica, Yapoos, Koji Ueno, Yoichiro Yoshikawa
an annotated discography compiled by Nicholas D. Kent. *

Jun Togawa is a Japanese singer, musician and actress. Her close friends over the years include Susumu Hirasawa. Career After gaining attention a guest singer for the New Wave band Halmens and her acting roles in Japanese dramas and commercials for the ...

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

. * (Japanese) {{DEFAULTSORT:Togawa, Jun 1961 births Living people Japanese musicians Japanese actresses Musicians from Shinjuku