is a Japanese singer, musician and actress. She is one of the greatest influences on Japanese avant-garde music and media, and her career spans over 35 years. Her close friends over the years include

Susumu Hirasawa is a Japanese musician and composer. He is well known for his work for the films of director Satoshi Kon and the animated adaptations of the Berserk (manga), ''Berserk'' manga series, alongside his work as a solo artist and as a member of P-Mode ...

. She was mainly active from 1981 to 1995.

Career

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

Washlet is a Japanese line of cleansing toilet seats manufactured and sold by the company Toto. The electronic bidet features a water spray element for genital and anal cleansing. and commonly appears on toilets all over Japan. The device was rel ...

, she began her professional music career in the early 1980s as a singer. She joined former Halmens member

Kōji Ueno is a Japanese composer, musician, arranger and keyboardist. He is noted for his unique style of music. He graduated from Nihon University's department of music at its faculty of art, and in 1978, began his career in music with his first music ens ...

and artist/lyricist Keiichi Ohta to form the

Shōwa era The was a historical period of History of Japan, Japanese history corresponding to the reign of Emperor Shōwa (Hirohito) from December 25, 1926, until Death and state funeral of Hirohito, his death on January 7, 1989. It was preceded by the T ...

-themed band

Guernica Guernica (, ), officially Gernika () in Basque, 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 municipality of Gernika-Lumo ...

in 1981, whose first album was released under YEN Records in 1982. In 1984, during a hiatus on Guernica, she released a live album ''Ura Tamahime'' with a backing band called Yapoos; the band included some former Halmens members and the album featured several covers of Halmens songs. The same year, she released her debut solo album ''Tamahime-sama'' (also on YEN''),'' containing themes of menstruation, womanhood, and romance with a recurring insect and pupa motif. The following year, she came out with album ''Kyokuto Ian Shoka'' (Far Eastern Comfort Songs) with a backing band called the Jun Togawa Unit. Later that year she released her album ''Suki Suki Daisuki,'' a satirical take on

aidoru An is a type of entertainer marketed for image, attractiveness, and personality in Japanese popular culture, Japanese pop culture. Idols are primarily singers with training in other performance skills such as acting, dancing, and modeling. Idol ...

music, this time under her own

Alfa Records , originally a publisher known as Alfa Music Ltd. and later succeeded by record company Alfa Music Inc., was established in 1969 by composer and record producer Kunihiko Murai. It was formed into an independent record label known as Alfa Recor ...

sublabel, HYS. She joined Yapoos and solidified the group as an official band, releasing their first album in 1987. She did two more albums with Guernica in 1988 and 1989, and continued singing with Yapoos, releasing albums mainly into the mid 90s, then one in 2003 and another in 2019. Generally the differentiation between her self-named bands and the Yapoos has been a greater degree of collaboration in the latter. Although she never achieved major

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...

success, she survived as an influential and respected underground music figure both solo and as the lead singer of

and her most commercial project Yapoos 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 ...

culture. 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 f ...

who sponsored Guernica's first album and produced & wrote music for some of her earlier works. Her late sister Kyoko Togawa was an actress who at times ventured into the music world and cross collaborated at times. Around 1990 Jun shared management with

resulting in quite a number of collaborations. She has acted in the films ''

Untamagiru Untamagiru ( Okinawan: , ''untamagiruu'') is a 1989 Okinawan film directed by Gō Takamine. It is a magical realist story of the legendary Okinawan hero Untamagiru participating in efforts to form an independent Okinawa before the island was retur ...

'' and ''

The Family Game is a 1983 Japanese comedy and family drama film directed by Yoshimitsu Morita. It follows the story of a nuclear family of four whose father hires a tutor for the younger son, a distracted and low-ranking middle school student who will soon be ta ...

''. In 1989,

, who had placed his band

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 Hir ...

on hiatus, 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 1991, Togawa appeared on the TV Tokyo program ''Jun Togawa x

'' (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 realiza ...

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) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s. Initially termed " progressive pop", the ...

electropop Electropop is a popular music fusion genre combining elements of the electronic and pop styles. It has been described as a variant of synth-pop with emphasis on a hard electronic sound. The genre was developed in the 1980s and saw a rev ...

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. 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 O ...

, her first new recordings in twelve years.

Relationship with Susumu Hirasawa

Jun Togawa and

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, "Teinen Pushiganga," 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 (, ), officially Gernika () in Basque, 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 municipality of Gernika-Lumo ...

* 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 ''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 the debut studio album by Japanese musician Susumu Hirasawa, released on September 1, 1989 via Polydor K.K. It is his first album and first musical material since the hiatus of the band P-Model. Background In December 1988, Hirasawa decided ...

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

The Ghost in Science is the second studio album by Susumu Hirasawa. It was released on May 25, 1990 via Polydor K.K. Overview ''The Ghost in Science'' is marked by a whimsical, futuristic thematic in which Hirasawa paints himself as a mad scientist. It has a soun ...

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

990.10.25 99 may refer to: * 99 (number) * one of the years 99 BC, AD 99, 1999, 2099, etc. Art, entertainment, and media Film, television and radio * ''99'' (1918 film), a Hungarian film * ''99'' (2009 film), an Indian Hindi film * ''99'' (2019 film), ...

error CD An error (from the Latin , meaning 'to wander'Oxford English Dictionary, s.v. “error (n.), Etymology,” September 2023, .) is an inaccurate or incorrect action, thought, or judgement. In statistics, "error" refers to the difference between t ...

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

Virtual Rabbit ''Virtual Rabbit'' is the third studio album by Susumu Hirasawa, released on May 25, 1991 via Polydor K.K. Overview ''Virtual Rabbit'' was made in the same style as the previous two albums, although greater in scale, with compositions more in li ...

'' (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. She is one of the greatest influences on Japanese avant-garde music and media, and her career spans over 35 years. Her close friends over the years include Susumu Hirasawa. She was mainly active from ...

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

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