Tomiko Van

Tomiko Van
Tomiko Van, at Shibuya with Do As Infinity partners.
Background information
Birth name	Van Tomiko (伴 都美子, Ban Tomiko)
Also known as	Ban-chan
Born	(1979-01-09) January 9, 1979
Origin	Yamato, Kumamoto, Japan
Genres	J-pop, Rock, Jazz
Occupations	Singer-songwriter
Years active	1999–2005, 2008–present (Do As Infinity) 2005–present (solo)
Labels	Avex Trax
Associated acts	Do As Infinity
Website	Official website

Tomiko Van (伴 都美子, Ban Tomiko, born January 9, 1979), is a Japanese J-pop singer and occasional actress, as well as a member of the band Do As Infinity (DAI), along with Ryo Owatari and Dai Nagao, that has resumed activities after their 2005 split.

Career

Do As Infinity

Beginnings as solo artist

Tomiko Van began as a solo artist while she was with Do As Infinity with the song "Again", which appeared on the charity album Song Nation, and later in 2003 with the song "drive me nuts", which was recorded for trance DJs project Cyber X. Van also appeared in six commercials for the Japanese hair product company Lavenus.^[1]

Official solo career

2005

After Do As Infinity disbanded on September 29, 2005, Avex Trax, Van's label, announced that the singer was going solo.^[2]

2006

In 2006, Van made her debut as a solo artist with her album Farewell. Singles were not released prior to her album, released in March 2006. Her first official single as a solo artist, "Flower", was released in June of the same year, and made the weekly top ten of the Japanese charts. Two other singles followed that year, "Senkō", in September, and "Yumeji", a late November release.

On October 3, 2006, Van announced her debut role in the Japanese movie, Heat Island, as a café bar manager. Van also announced her second stage role in the Japanese version, Brooklyn. She has stated that this will not take away from her career as a singer.^{[citation needed]}

2007

2007 started out with Van's first cover album entitled Voice: Cover You With Love. Though it entered the top twenty, the album was not considered a great success as it did not manage to sell as well as her original album Farewell a year before. The album was Van's only release that year.

2008

In 2008, Van's third album and second cover album, Voice 2: Cover Lovers Rock, was released in March. In this album, she covered songs performed by male artists, such as Spitz and Masaharu Fukuyama. Despite her one year hiatus from the music scene, the album charted at #10 on the 1st day of release. Van's fourth solo single, Tokyo Biyori, was released on June 18, 2008.^[3] Tomiko's second original album, "Van", was released in December 2008.

On September 29, 2008 Do As Infinity was officially a band again and they released a four track single on June 17, 2009.

Discography

Singles

Albums

Music Videos

Featured and collaborative releases

• "Drive Me Nuts" (Cyber X feat. Tomiko Van)
• "Truth'94 -Meets Tomiko Van-" (cover version of TRF's original song)
• "Again" (various artists album, Song Nation, an Avex project consisting of collaborations between many different Avex artists)
• "Music Flower" (Kohey Tsuchiya & various artists)
• "Velvet" (Kikkawa Kouji)

References

External links

• Official website (Japanese)
• Tomiko Van at the Internet Movie Database
• Interview with Tomiko Van