hypersongs

Junko Ohashi

The Hokkaido-born city pop and soul singer whose "Telephone Number" from Tea For Tears (1981) found a second audience overseas.

From Yubari to Tokyo

Junko Ohashi was born on April 26, 1950 in Yubari, Hokkaido, and died on November 9, 2023 in Tokyo, aged 73. English Wikipedia calls her the oldest of four children in a restaurant-running family, while Japanese Wikipedia calls her the youngest of four siblings and the eldest daughter. She attended Hokkaido Yubari High School and Fuji Women's Junior College. In college she sang in a Hokkaido University light-music band, starting in hard rock and moving to soul under the influence of Sergio Mendes and Janis Joplin, and hosted a late-night radio show on HBC. In 1974 she moved to Tokyo, worked part-time at Yamaha and passed a label audition; her debut album Feeling Now came out on Philips in June 1974.

The title track of Paper Moon (1976) was her first hit. In 1977 she formed Junko Ohashi and Minoya Central Station with the guitarist Masami Tsuchiya, and "Simple Love" won third place at the Majorca World Music Festival. "Tasogare My Love", the theme of the TBS drama Shishi no Gotoku in 1978, was her biggest hit and won a Gold Award at the 20th Japan Record Awards; she made her Kohaku Uta Gassen debut in 1979 with "Beautiful Me". She married the composer Ken Sato in 1979. "Silhouette Romance" (November 1981) peaked at 7 on the Oricon singles chart and sold over 500,000; the sources disagree on whether it won Best Song or Best Vocal Performance at the 24th Japan Record Awards. Epic released Def (1988), Question (1988) and Pagoda (1990); she moved to VAP in 1992 and recorded charity cover albums Terra (2007) and Terra 2 (2009) to support Yubari, with Terra 3 in 2019.

She received a Special Achievement Award at the 65th Japan Record Awards in 2023. Her 1984 compilation Magical, which includes "Telephone Number", "I Love You So", "Sherry" and "Dancin", became a collector's item among overseas city pop fans: the Van Paugam blog says original pressings were valued at over $500 on Discogs by 2020, and it was reissued in December 2021. Universal listed a clear-vinyl reissue of Tea For Tears for November 13, 2026.

Albums

  • Tea For Tears 1981 · Philips

    Her ninth studio album, with lyrics throughout by Tokuko Miura.

  • DEF 1988

    A 1988 album.

  • Question 1988

    A 1988 album.

Songs

  • Telephone Number Tea For Tears · 1981

    A lively city pop track, written by Tokuko Miura and Ken Sato.

Sources

  1. Junko Ohashi, Wikipedia
  2. Junko Ohashi (Japanese), Wikipedia (Japanese)
  3. Junko Ohashi and the Magical $500 Record, Van Paugam
  4. Tea For Tears reissue, Good Taste Records