Tomoko Kawase was best known for her role as vocalist of the jpop band
The Brilliant Green, which was popular during the late 1990's into the early 2000's. In 2001,
Tomoko decided it was time to go solo and created an alter ego she called
Tommy february6, which was a name derived from her birth date of February 6th and her name.
Tommy February6 was a character designed to be styled like the girl next door gone bad, adorable and sweet, yet having the wild side that everyone wants to have - speaking her mind, partying and bar hopping, and just being herself without worry about society's opinion. This persona flourished, and within seven months of beginning her career, she released her first single,
EVERYDAY AT THE BUS STOP in July 2001.
Tommy's releases remained steady and by July 2002 she had released four singles including the popular
KISS ONE MORE TIME, and her first self titled album. In October,
Tommy released a photo book entitled
Tommy february6 + HAWAII.
2003 was a quiet year for
Tommy february6 in terms of releases, and only two singles hit Japan's shelves that year in February and July. On May 26, 2003,
Tommy appeared on a television show special entitled "SPACE SHOWER TV × Tommy february6 SPECIAL NIGHT," which would feature a performance by
Tommy february6. Instead, she pulled her glasses off and announced the creation of a new persona,
Tommy heavenly6. She expressed that the ego of
Tommy febrary6 had begun to change from her original design and that was disappointing her, but she would continue with the persona as well as the new ego.
For more information on the history between
Tommy february6 and
Tommy heavenly6, see
Tommy heavenly6's profile.
In October 2003,
Tommy produced the television show, "Oshare! Idol Academy," on Tokyo Television. In December, she produced a cheer leading unit called
Tommy☆angels who performed their new single,
You'll be my boy on the show.
Tommy focused on production for the last bit of 2003, in November producing
Stars to shine again by
SPEED, and
♡Wanna be your girlfriend♡, a single by
Hi Asuka, in November.
During February 2004,
Tommy released the single
MaGic in youR Eyes, which became the theme song for the TBS drama "Bewitched" and was featured on the original sound track. A month later, she released her next album,
Tommy Airline. She wrapped up 2004 with only one more single, which came out in July.
The music front was quiet for over a year as
Tommy focused on her career in
Tommy heavenly6 after a long hiatus with the persona, as well as producing for other jpop artists. In October 2005 she produced the single and music video for the single
Oh My Juliet by jpop artist and comedian
Takashi Fujii, which became an instant hit. She produced just one single in 2005,
Lonely in Gorgeous, which became the opening theme for "Paradise Kiss," an anime series.
It was several years since
Tommy february6 had released new material, and fans anxiously awaited her newest full album called
Strawberry Cream Soda "Daydream", which was released on Sony's website on February 24 and in stores on February 25, 2009.
Most recently,
Tommy appeared on
Music Fair on March 28 along with her counterpart,
Tommy Heavenly and several other popular J-pop acts. With
Tommy February back in action, we will have to wait and see what she has planned next!
