Singer/songwriter turned therapist, EPO talks about having a mother with mental illness and being abused

At the age of 19, EPO began her career singing chorus for Takeuchi Mariya for her single “SEPTEMBER” and sung the Suntory Lemon CM song “Oki no ga suki” written by Ohtaki Eiichi.

EPO would make her professional debut with a cover of Yamashita Tatsuro’s “DOWN TOWN” in March 1980 and would achieve numerous hits with songs such as “Doyo no yoru wa Paradise” (1982), “U, Fu, Fu, fu” (1983) to name a few.

And while EPO is a licensed therapist since the ’90s, her personal life behind stardom was not always easy according to an article featured in “Yomi Dr.”.

It was 1987 when Southern All Stars and Kuwata Keisuke were scheduled guests on a radio program.  As EPO was preparing to go out, her door bell rang and when she opened the door, her mother was there standing holding kitchen knives in her hand.

Her mother began cutting herself and EPO screamed for her mother to stop.  Then her mother look towards EPO, scared that she was going to die, she managed to shake her mother off and ran to a taxi and off she went to her record label.

She received a call from her father and EPO was accused of injuring her mother and the police was contacted. Shocked about what happened, EPO was heartbroken, started to hyperventilate and lost consciousness.  EPO was taken to the hospital by ambulance and was diagnosed with acute stress disorder.

Two days later, she regained consciousness but the fact that her mother lied about what happened and it would affect the relationship between mother and daughter.

Devastated by the lie, although EPO was able to return to work, the wounds left behind by her mother will never heal.  The fact that her mother lied and that she was accused of violence and she felt despair over her father who also blamed himself.

The abuse that EPO had suffered from her mother’s illness happened since childhood.

EPO said, “My mother had borderline personality disorder and suffered from mental illness.  She disliked someone of the same sex and was threatened by her daughter because she was a woman”.

Her mother would have her look at the mirror and beat her until she corrected her appearance.  As an elementary school student, her mother had her hair cut like a boy.

According to the article, people suffering borderline personality disorder tend to be emotionally and behaviorally unstable but not everyone is aggressive.  In the case of EPO’s mother, she had hallucinations which increased and she would abuse her daughter.

EPO said that growing up from that environment, many children would often blame themselves  but a blessing for her was that she did music activities with other high school students and was blessed with good friends.

While her mother’s behavior continued through her twenties, she would have to steak into her apartment, check personal items and deal with rumors.

Despite the happy pop songs that were cheerful and positive, it was the opposite of what was happening in EPO’s personal life.

When EPO received a major contract with a UK record company, local producers told her, “your voice should be used for people who can heal people’s minds”.  She was suggested to go that directionf or music and she would release two albums and two singles in the UK and it deepened her confidence in making new music.

Returning back to Japan, she continued to resume activities and worked writing music and despite not creating more hits, she had many fans supportive of her work.

While she would continue to receive harassment from her mother even as a musician, there was a sense of guilt and conflict it cutting off connection from her parents.

After meeting with a hypnotherapist, she made a decision to confront her mother at the age of 44 and tell her that she will never meet her again and that she will never want a relationship with her.  And at that point, it was the first time she felt calm and the happy days in her life began.

At the same time, she enrolled in a specialized university in the US to learn to become a therapist and with counseling, it saved her.  EPO made the decision that she wanted to use her experience to help people who are also suffering.  Traveling back and forth between Japan and the US, she received her qualification in Florida as a certified therapist and supplementary medical practitioner.

Currently EPO is managing a counseling studio “Music *& Drama” in Okinawa and Kanagawa Prefecture and continues to be involved with music.

---