[3] She worked as a typist for five years after leaving high school,[4] then, aged 23, she made her singing debut, at the well-known nightclub Gin-Pari.

[5] In December 2011 Masako Togawa had to close the Aoi Heya after 43 years because of pressing financial difficulties, despite the endeavours of a Blue Room Relief Fund.

[6] In February 2012, Togawa began a "Blue Room Grand Cabaret" delivered through a web TV channel, Scatch.TV,[6] and Chanson classes on the first and third Wednesdays of every month.

The plot centred on a character clearly based on Togawa herself, a mystery writer named Masako who creates an all-female company of detectives to uncover white-collar crimes.

[5] She also acted in the film The Hunter’s Diary (1974), adapted from stories that she co-wrote, and in the television show Ōi Naru Genei, based on her first novel (known in English as The Master Key).