Tomiko Van

Birth name (Van Tomiko, pronounced Ban Tomiko)
Also known as Ban-chan
Born January 9, 1979 (1979-01-09) (age 29)
Origin Yamato, Kumamoto, Japan
Genre(s) J-Pop, J-Rock, Jazz
Occupation(s) Singer-songwriter
Years active 1999-2005 (Do As Infinity), 2005-Present (solo)
Label(s) Avex Trax

Tomiko Van (born January 9, 1979), is a Japanese J-Pop singer and occasional actress, as well as a former member of the now disbanded band Do As Infinity, along with Ryo Owatari and Dai Nagao.

Beginnings as solo artist

Tomiko began as a solo artist while she was with D·A·I with the song "Again", which appeared in charity album Song Nation, and later in 2003 with the song "drive me nuts", which was recorded for trance DJs project Cyber X. Tomiko also appeared in six commercials for the Japanese hair product company LAVENUS.

2005

After Do As Infinity disbanded on September 29, 2005, Avex Trax, Tomiko's label, announced that the singer was going solo.

2006

In 2006 Tomiko 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 10 of the Japanese charts. Two other singles followed that year, Senkou, in September, and Yumeji, a late November release.

On October 3, 2006, Tomiko announced her debut role in the Japanese movie, Heat ISLAND, as a café bar manager. Tomiko 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.

2007

2007 started out with Tomiko's first cover album entitled VOICE ~cover you with love~. Though it entered the top 20, 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 Tomiko's only release that year.

2008

In 2008, Tomiko's 3rd album and 2nd 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.