Masako Togawa

Masako Togawa
Native name	戸川とがわ昌子まさこ (Togawa Masako)
Born	23 March 1931
Died	26 April 2016(2016-04-26) (aged 85)
Notable works	The Grand Illusion (1962)

Masako Togawa (戸川とがわ昌子まさこ, Togawa Masako) (23 March 1931 – 26 April 2016) was a Japanese Chanson singer/songwriter, actress, feminist, novelist, lesbian icon, former night club owner, metropolitan city planning panelist, and music educator.

Personal life

Masako Togawa grew up in "restricted circumstances" following the death of her father. She worked as a typist for five years after leaving high school, then, aged 23, she made her singing debut, at the well-known nightclub Gin-Pari. Togawa had several children, the last of whom was born when she was 48 years old. Not much about her children has been made public.

Togawa often made public appearances with a multicoloured "Afro" hairstyle.

She taught numerous musicians how to sing and compose.

Chanson/club career

In 1967 Togawa turned her sister’s coffee shop into a nightclub, the Aoi Heya ("Blue Room"), which became a celebrity hangout, a lesbian night club, a chansonnier and, in recent years, a live music club.

In 1975 she brought out her first record, "Lost Love", which was followed by "The Moral of the Story".

In December 2011 Masako Togawa had to close the Aoi Heya after 43 years because of pressing financial difficulties, despite the endeavours of a Blue Room Relief Fund. In May 2012 she expressed a desire for the club to be relaunched, and there is now a "Monday Blue Room" hosted by the Tokyo Salavas.

In February 2012, Togawa began a "Blue Room Grand Cabaret" delivered through a web TV channel, Scatch.TV, and Chanson classes on the first and third Wednesdays of every month. It appears that her only concern was that the venue might be "overflowing".

Film and TV career

Masako Togawa had the lead role in the TV show Playgirl, which ran from 1969 to 1974. The plot centred on a character clearly based on Togawa herself, a mystery writer named Masako who creates an all-female company of detectives to uncover white-collar crimes.She also acted in the film The Hunter’s Diary (1974), adapted from stories that she co-wrote, and in the television show Ōi Naru Genei, based on her first novel (known in English as The Master Key).

Writing career and critical reception

Masako Towaga began writing in 1961, backstage, between her stage appearances, and her first novel, The Master Key, was published in 1962. It won her the Edogawa Rampo Prize. The novel is set in the apartment she grew up in with her mother. Her second novel, The Lady Killer, followed in 1963, becoming a bestseller. It was adapted for both TV and film, and was nominated for the Naoki Prize.'

She wrote more than 30 novels and was one of the most popular mystery writers in Japan. Many of her novels were based on her experiences.

A reviewer in the Times Literary Supplement called her "the P. D. James of Japan", but an anonymous reviewer of Slow Fuse in Kirkus Reviews found the work "sluggishly paced and indifferently written .... [an] hysterically overplotted soaper."

Literary works

Novels

• The Grand Illusion (大おおいなる幻影げんえい, Ōi Naru Genei). Kodansha. 1962.
  • translated into English by Simon Grove in 1984 as The Master Key.
  • winner of the 8th Edogawa Rampo Prize.
• Diary of a Hunter (猟人りょうじん日記にっき, Karyūdo Nikki). Kodansha.1963.
  • translated into English by Simon Grove in 1985 as The Lady Killer.
  • nominated for the 50th Naoki Prize.
• Unpromised (契ちぎらずに, Chigirazu ni) Shueisha. 1965.
• Pale Skin (蒼あおいざめた肌はだ, Aozameru Hada) Bungeishunju Magazine. 1965.
• The Woman's White Road (女人にょにん白しろ道どう, Nyonin Hakudō) Sankei Shimbun. 1965.
• Sodom's Snare (ソドムの罠わな, Sodomu no Wana). Kodansha. 1965.
• Akasaka Wildlife Sanctuary (赤坂あかさか禁猟きんりょう区く, Akasaka Kinryōku). Kodansha. 1966.
• Poaching in Broad Daylight (白昼はくちゅうの密漁みつりょう, Hakuchū no Mitsuryō). Kodansha. 1966.
• Costume Parade (仮装かそう行列ぎょうれつ, Kasōgyōretsu) Kodansha. 1967.
• Deep Slump (深ふかい失速しっそく, Fukai Shissoku) Kodansha. 1967.
  • translated into English by Simon Grove in 1995 as Slow Fuse.
• Rock Bottom Ginza (銀座ぎんざ「どん底ぞこ」附近ふきん, Ginza "Donzoku" Fukin). Bungei Shunju. 1967.
• The Book of Sleepless Nights: The Woman's Lustrous Brush (眠ねむれない夜よるの本ほん: おんなの艶つや筆ひつ, Nemurenai Yoru no Hon: Onna no Tsuya Fude). Seishun. 1967.
• Belt of Mirages (蜃気楼しんきろうの帯おび, Shinkirō no Obi). Yomiuri Shimbun. 1967.
• Louder! (もっと声こえを!, Motto Koe wo). Shinchōsha. 1968.
• Night Passport (夜よるのパスポート, Yoru no Pasupōto). Kodansha. 1968.
• Red Corona (赤あかい暈かさ, Akai Kasa). Shinchōsha. 1969.
• Nightmare (夢魔むま, Muma). Kodansha. 1969.
• Nature of Masks (仮面かめんの性せい, Kamen no Sei). Tokyo Books. 1969.
• Blue Snake (蒼あおい蛇へび, Aoi Hebi). Tokuma Shoten. 1969.（1969年ねん、徳間書店とくましょてん）
• Red Scratchmarks (赤あかい爪痕つめあと, Akai Tsumeato). Tokuma Shoten. 1970.
• Scene of Nude with Sacred Story (聖きよし談だんとヌードの風景ふうけい, Seidan to Nūdo no Fūkei). Best Sellers. 1970.
• Hour of the Hunt (狩かりの時刻じこく, Kari no Jikoku). Kodansha. 1970.
  • later adapted as a manga by Yumiko Igarashi under the title La Nuit Magic: 夜よるは魔術まじゅつ (Yoru wa Majutsu) in 1990.
• Phantom's Fang (幻影げんえいの牙きば, Genei no Kiba). The Sankei Shimbun. 1970.
• Transparent Woman (透明とうめい女おんな, Tōmei Onna). Kōbunsha. 1971.
• Forced Marriage (強制きょうせい結婚けっこん, Kyōsei Kekkon). Tokuma Shoten. 1972.
• The Female Trap (牝めすの罠わな, Mesu no Wana). Tokuma Shoten. 1972.
• Requiem of Lust (欲望よくぼうの鎮魂歌ちんこんか, Yokubō no Chinkonka). Jitsugyō no Nihon Sha. 1973.
• Only One Lives: When You Try to Burn Your Life Into That Person (生いきるのはひとり: その人ひとに生命せいめいを燃もやそうとするとき, Ikiru no wa Hitori: Sono Hito ni Seimei wo Moyasou to suru toki). Seishun. 1974.
• Beautiful Prey (美うつくしき獲物えものたち, Utsukushiki Emonotachi). Bungei Shunjū. 1974.
• A Kiss of Fire (火ひの接吻せっぷん). Kodansha. 1984.
  • translated into English by Simon Grove in 1988 as A Kiss of Fire.

Novellas & Short Stories

• Out of the Darkness (闇やみの中なかから, Yami no Naka Kara). first published in Hōseki. 1963.
  • later republished as part of Mystery Writers of Japan's Best 24 Mysteries of 1964.
• The Abortion of Scarlet (緋ひの堕胎だたい, Hi no Datai). First published in Ōru Yomimono. 1964.
  • later republished in the Mystery Writers of Japan's Best 24 Mysteries of 1965.
• The Shaking Woman (揺ゆれる女おんな, Yureru Onna). Kodansha. 1967.
• Intersection of Night (夜よるの交差点こうさてん, Yoru no Kōsaten). Tokyo Books. 1967.
• Honey Flavored (蜜みつの味あじ, Mitsu no Aji). Tokyo Books. 1968.
• Severed Sleep. (裂さけた眠ねむり, Saketa Nemuri). Shinchōsha. 1968.
• Pulse of Flame (火ひの脈みゃく, Hi no Myaku). Tokyo Books. 1969.
• Scratches of Night (夜よるの爪痕つめあと, Yoru no Tsumeato). Tokyo Books. 1969.
• Wall of Love (壁かべの恋こい, Kabe no Koi). Tokyo Books. 1969.
• Inside the Blue Room (青あおい部屋へやの中なかで, Aoi Heya no Naka de). Bungei Shunjū. 1969.
• Strange Partners (見知みしらぬ伴侶はんりょ, Mishiranu Hanyo). Tokyo Books.1969.
• Devilish Woman (悪魔あくまのような女おんな, Akuma noyōna Onna). Kodansha. 1969.
• A Swarm of Blue Nudes (蒼あおき裸はだか者しゃの群むれ, Aoki Hadakasha no Mure). Tokuma Shoten. 1970.
• The Yellow Vampire (黄色きいろい吸血鬼きゅうけつき, Kīroi Kyūketsuki). Tuttle. 1970.
  • published in English in the anthology Ellery Queen's Japanese Golden Dozen: The Detective Story World in Japan A collection of Togawa's short stories in Japanese was also published in 1978 under the same (Japanese) title.

• Holy Woman (聖女せいじょ, Seijo). Kodansha. 1971.
• Tale of the Japanese Temptress (日本にっぽん毒婦どくふ伝でん, Nihon Dokufu Den). Kodansha. 1971.
  • later republished under the title Reality of the Wicked Woman (悪女あくじょの真実しんじつ, Akujo no Shinjitsu).

• Tale of the East-West Enchantress (東西とうざい妖婦ようふ伝でん, Tōzai Yōfu Den). Shueisha. 1972.
• Coffin of Water (水みずの寝棺ねかん, Mizu no Nekan). Kodansha. 1972.
• Underdog (負まけ犬いぬ, Makeinu). Tokyo Books. 1974.
• Rebirth of Flesh (肉にくの復活ふっかつ, Niku no Fukkatsu). Marine Books. 1974.
• Like Freezing Flames (冷ひえた炎ほのおの如ごとく, Hieta Hinō Gotoku). Pep. 1975.
• Victim of the Sun (太陽たいようの生贄いけにえ, Taiyō no Ikenie). Futabasha. 1978.
  • later republished under the title Soul Colored (霊れい色しょく, Rei Iro).
• Black Honeymoon (ブラック・ハネムーン, Burakku Hanemūn). Futabasha. 1980.
• The Mummy of Tsumagoi (嬬恋つまごい木乃伊みいら, Tsumagoi Mīra). Tokuma Shoten. 1987.

External links

• [1] (in Japanese)
• Togawa Masako
• Aoi Heya (Blue Room page)
• 戸川とがわ昌子まさこの世界せかい (a collage of Togawa's nightclub work, from 2009).
• [2]