Born in Fujishima, Yamagata (now part of the city of Tsuruoka), Togashi attended Rikkyō University, where he was inspired by the lectures on cinema by the critic Shigehiko Hasumi.
[1] After graduating, he worked as an assistant director for pink films until he got the chance to work with his hero, the director Shinji Sōmai.
[1] Assisting on such films as Typhoon Club (1984), he got his first chance to direct a section of the omnibus film Kawaii hito (1998), which was supervised by Sōmai.
[1] That helped him make his feature film debut with Off-Balance.
He won the award for best New Director at the 23rd Yokohama Film Festival.