Junko Ohashi

Ohashi was born in Yūbari, Hokkaido, Japan on April 26, 1950, the oldest of four children from a family that ran a restaurant.^[1][4] She graduated from Hokkaido Yubari High School, later attending and graduating from Fuji Women's Junior College. While at college, she joined a band.

Ohashi made her debut as a singer with the album Feeling Now (1974).^[4] She had her breakout in 1978, with the hit "Tasogare My Love", the theme song of the TBS drama series Shishi no Gotoku.^[5] During her initial stages of her career, she was known to sing hard rock, but switched to soul after being inspired by artists Sérgio Mendes and Janis Joplin.^[6] She accompanied Kiyohiko Ozaki on a live tour, and later served as a supporting act.

In 1976, she released the song "Paper Moon", which became a hit. With the success of the album of the same name, she formed the band Junko Ohashi & Minoya Central Station.^[7] In 1978, she released the song "Tasogare My Love", which won her a Gold Award during the 20th Japan Record Awards. In 1981, she released the song "Silhouette Romance", which ranked at number 7 on the Oricon Singles Chart, was awarded best song at the 24th Japan Record Awards and sold over 500,000 copies.^[4][8] She also participated in several editions of the Kōhaku Uta Gassen competition, starting from 1979.^[4]

In 2018, Ohashi announced that she would be on hiatus after her esophageal cancer diagnosis, returning to recording and touring in March 2019.^[9][10]

Ohashi met composer Ken Sato while he was working at Yamaha, marrying him in 1979.^[11]

In 2018, Ohashi revealed that she was diagnosed with early-stage esophageal cancer, cancelling tour dates in order to focus on her treatment, but was able to resume touring afterwards.^[12] However, in March 2019, Ohashi revealed that she was also suffering from breast cancer.^[13]

On March 22, 2023, it was reported that Ohashi had relapsed and stopped touring again due to focusing on treating her esophageal cancer.^[13] Eight months later, on November 9, Ohashi died in a hospital in Tokyo at the age of 73.^[14][15] Her funeral was held at Zōjō-ji temple on November 15 after she was cremated.^[16]