Tomiko Van

Profile
Real Name: Van Tomiko 伴 都美子(Ban Tomiko)
Birthday: 1979.01.09
Birthplace: Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan
Blood Type: A
Height: 163cm
Nickname: Ban-chan
Zodiac: Capricorn
Favorite Artists: Cyndi Lauper, Sheryl Crow, The Corrs, Meja, Natalie Imbruglia
Favorite Food: Mini tomatoes
Favorite Beverages: Shochu, Wine, Oolong chuhai
Favorite movie: Moulin Rouge!
Favorite book: Kamisama no boat - Ekuni Kaori
She admires: Nicole Kidman, Jane Barkin
Personal Treasure: Friends, Family
Ideal date: watching a video at home
Recent interest: Collecting mugs & mini tomatoes
Label(s): Avex Trax
Website http://www.avexnet.or.jp/van/


Tomiko Van (伴 都美子, Ban Tomiko) (born January 9, 1979), is a Japanese J-Pop singer and also former member of the now disbanded band Do As Infinity, along with Ryo Owatari and Dai Nagao.


Information


Van Tomiko (2006)Van Tomiko is the former lead singer of the J-Rock group Do As Infinity. Van Tomiko was born on January 9, 1979 in Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan. One of her nicknames in early childhood used to be Tonko, but she has stated several times she doesn't like it very much now. After dropping out of high school, she became a singer at a local club. In May 1999 she auditioned for Dai Nagao and within two days recorded her first song with Do As Infinity

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.

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..Tomiko's second original album, "Van", was released in December 2008