Eiko Miyagawa (宮川榮子), née Eiko Sato (佐藤栄子), born May 12, 1960), known professionally as EPO, is a Japanese singer, songwriter and alternative medicine therapist who had success in the Japanese music industry in the 1980s and 1990s. Known as one of the "RCA Three Girls" in the mid-1980s alongside artists Taeko Onuki and Mariya Takeuchi on the same label, she is a prominent figure in the city pop genre that saw a revival in the late 2010s and early 2020s.
Early life and education Eiko Sato was born in Tokyo on May 12, 1960. She attended Setagaya Municipal Tamon Elementary School, where she was given the nickname 'Epo' by a friend, a mispronunciation of 'Eiko', which would later become her stage name. Sato attended and , also in Setagaya.
During her time in Matsubara High School, Sato formed a band with classmates and , with Sato singing backing vocals, writing and arranging songs, and playing piano. Shimizu and Sahashi would go on to become independently successful, Shimizu as a producer and keyboardist, and Sahashi as a guitarist. The two would also be frequent musical collaborators with Sato across her career as a solo artist. In 1977, in her second year of high school, Sato enrolled at the Japan Women's College of Physical Education, while recording music part-time as a session singer.
Sato had a negative relationship with her mother throughout her childhood and teenage years, and struggled with her mother's aggressive behavior caused by mental health issues. Due to her dyfunctional home life, Sato moved out at 19 years old.
Music career Debut–1980s In 1979, Sato, working with RCA Records, recorded vocals for the chorus of Mariya Takeuchi's single "September". The song's vocal arrangement is credited to Sato, but she only sang on the chorus, with actually arranging the vocals. This was done to promote Sato's musical ability, as she was due to make her debut as a solo artist with RCA. Sato dropped out of Japan Women's College of Physical Education in her second year to focus on progressing her musical career.
Sato debuted as EPO on March 21, 1980, releasing a cover of Japanese band Sugar Babe's "Down Town" (stylised in all caps), a single, and an album sharing the same name. Sato was a fan of Sugar Babe, and shared a label with one of its members, Tatsuro Yamashita. Prior to the release of "Down Town", Sato was struggling with choosing a debut song. By chance, she encountered Yamashita in the lobby of RCA's recording studios, and asked him directly if she could cover "Down Town" for her debut single as EPO, to which he agreed. EPO's cover of "Down Town" was used as the ending theme of sketch comedy TV show , as Yamashita is said to have refused permission for Sugar Babe's version to be used.
On November 21, 1980, EPO's second album Goodies (stylised in all caps) was released with the single "Park Avenue 1981". Some songs on Goodies were recorded in Los Angeles and New York in the United States, and featured musical contributions from both American and Japanese artists such Luther Vandross and Sugar Babe band member Taeko Onuki, both of whom performed backing vocals.
EPO's third album JOEPO ~ 1981KHz was released on September 21, 1981. A concept album, it was recorded in the style of a radio program, with songs interspersed with jingles.
EPO released her fourth album, Uwasa ni Naritai (うわさになりたい, lit. "I Want To Become a Rumour", stylised as う・わ・さ・に・な・り・た・い), on May 21, 1982, which included a new version of "Down Town". It also included the single "Girl in Me", written by Ray Parker Jr., who originally wrote the song as "Bringing Out the Girl in Me" for British soul singer Maxine Nightingale in 1979.
On April 5, 1983, EPO released her fifth album, Vitamin E・P・O (stylised in all caps). This would be her first album released under the Dear Heart label, a sub-label of RCA founded by producer Shigeki Miyata that would later become the record label. The album reached number 1 on the Cash Box LPs chartCash Box. 28 May 1983. p 30. and number 2 on the Music Labo albums chart.Billboard. 30 April 1983, p 52. 7 May 1983, p 62. The album's single, "U, Fu, Fu, Fu" (う、ふ、ふ、ふ) became EPO's most successful single, and was used in a commercial for Shiseido cosmetics. "U, Fu, Fu, Fu" peaked at number 7 on the Oricon Weekly Singles Chart and sold 263,000 copies in 1983. Another song from Vitamin E・P・O, "Doyō no Yoruwa Paradise" was once again used as the ending theme for Oretachi Hyokin-Zoku. Her success at this time lead to her being called one of the "RCA Three Girls" (RCA三人娘), referring to EPO, Mariya Takeuchi, and Taeko Onuki, who were popular artists under the label.
On February 21, 1984, EPO released her sixth album, Hi・Touch-Hi・Tech (stylised in all caps). The album contained a self-cover of "Kuchibiru Nude" , a song which EPO had written for idol singer Chika Takami earlier the same year. EPO began writing songs for other idol singers around this time up until the end of the 1980s, including Yukiko Okada, Noriko Matsumoto, Akina Nakamori, Kyoko Koizumi, Miho Nakayama, and Hiroko Yakushimaru. Hi・Touch-Hi・Tech was EPO's final album under RCA records.
On March 21, 1985, EPO released Harmony , her seventh album overall and her first album under the Midi Inc. label, which included a cover version of Ryuichi Sakamoto's "Tibetan Dance".
On June 5, 1986, EPO released her eighth album Pump!Pump! (stylised in all caps), her first self-produced album.
EPO released her ninth album, Go Go EPO, on April 21, 1987. On December 5, 1987, EPO released her tenth album, Poptracks (stylised in all caps), a cover album of largely Japanese pop songs by her musical contemporaries, such as Tatsuro Yamashita and Minako Yoshida, as well as songwriter Yumi Matsutoya.
The same year, EPO moved to London, England, and released her eleventh album, Freestyle (stylised in all caps), on August 21, 1988. Freestyle was recorded between London and Tokyo, and became EPO's best-selling album, peaking at number 9 on the Oricon Chart. The following year, on March 21, 1989, EPO's first live album, Sparks, was released with recordings from her Freestyle tour in Japan.
On July 21, 1989, EPO released her twelfth album, Supernatural. While all the songs on Supernatural were recorded in Japanese (with the exception of an English version of the track "Everybody Knows"), the album was produced entirely in London.
1990s In 1991, EPO, having signed with Virgin Records in the UK, released her thirteenth album, Fire and Snow, on March 6. The album was produced by two English music producers, Steve Lovell and Steve Power.
EPO returned to Japan the same year, and released her fourteenth album Wica the following year on September 16, 1992, her first album under the Toshiba EMI label. EPO met , guitarist for the Brazilian music inspired band , while working on Wica. Sasago would become a frequent musical collaborator with EPO.
On February 24, 1993, EPO released her fifteenth album, EPO Works, an acoustic self-cover album. On March 9, 1994, EPO released her sixteenth album, Voice of Ooparts, which would be her final album to appear on the Oricon Chart, peaking at number 36.
EPO released her second live album, UVA EPO Works Vol. 2, on September 27, 1995. The album contains live recordings from a month-long South American tour the same year with Choro Club and percussionist Ryo Watanabe.
On April 9, 1997, EPO released her seventeenth album Dance (stylised in all caps), her first album under Kitty Records. On March 11, 1998, EPO released her eighteenth album, Soul Kitchen. This album contained the song "Bleeding Heart", which EPO wrote about the pain and grief she experienced from her mother's treatment of her. On her website, EPO wrote that this period of time around 1998 was "a period of great turmoil." Her father died during the production of her nineteenth album, Peach, released on June 16, 1999.
2000s–2010s On July 25, 2001, EPO released her twentieth album, Air (stylised in all lower case). The album contains several live recordings of self-covers. Following the release of Air, EPO would not release a new album until 2009.
On July 8, 2009, EPO released her twenty-first album Aqua Nome, her first album released by her independent label, Eponica Record. Inspired by various musical genres and world cultures, Aqua Nome includes the sounds of the morin khuur, oud, harmonium, and Mongolian throat singing. The album also includes contributions from past collaborators Shigeharu Sasago and Ryo Watanabe.
In 2011, EPO was scheduled to play two live shows on March 25 and 26 at the music venue Suidobashi Tokyo Club as part of her 30th anniversary tour. However, due to the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, these concerts became fundraising concerts in aid of relief efforts in the aftermath of the disaster. The shows were recorded and released as two separate live albums. Later the same year, EPO released two more live albums of recordings from concerts with the soft rock band .
On December 4, 2013, EPO released her twenty-second album, Sacred Note〜Shinseina Oboegaki〜 (Sacred Note〜神聖な覚え書き〜).
On September 16, 2015, EPO released her twenty-third album, Ai wo～Love is On～ (愛を～Love is On～), to commemorate the 35th anniversary of her debut.
On July 5, 2017, EPO released Aquanome Live at Valley of Gangala in Okinawa, her sixth live album. EPO performed her first show at the historic Gangala Valley in Okinawa in 2016, and continued to perform there annually until 2020.
2020s Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, EPO had to postpone her plans to commemorate the 40th anniversary of her debut, including a live tour. The same year, EPO's music was made available on music streaming platforms, which, coinciding with the rise in popularity of city pop, began to receive increased attention via streaming from outside Japan.
On September 24, 2024, EPO's six albums released under RCA Records were re-issued on CD as part of Sony Music's Aldelight City Pop Collection.
On September 19 and September 21, 2025, EPO Best Hit Live 45th Anniversary PARTY!!, two live shows commemorating EPO's 45th debut anniversary, were performed in Tokyo and Osaka respectively. Both shows were fully sold out. Long-time collaborators and former classmates Nobuyuki Shimizu and Yoshiyuki Sahashi formed part of EPO's band for the shows.
On October 1, 2025, EPO released her twenty-fourth studio album, Epoful, as part of her 45th anniversary commemorations.
On May 31, 2026, EPO performed a Tiny Desk Concert, in a collaboration with American broadcater NPR and Japanese broadcaster NHK. She performed alongside Nobuyuki Shimizu, Yoshiyuki Sahashi, and four members of (stylised in all caps), a Japanese city pop inspired band who had collaborated with EPO previously.
Artistry EPO has cited Karen Carpenter as a major influence on her music, having referred to her as a "role model". Other western artists such as The Eagles, The Raspberries, and Barry Manilow influenced her work, as did songwriters Roger Nichols and Paul Williams. She has also cited jazz and soul music by African American artists as an influence across her discography. Experimental Japanese artists such as Yumi Matsutoya and soft rock band Sugar Babe, particularly Taeko Onuki, contrasted against the traditional music mainstream of Japan in the 1970s and 1980s, also served as a major influence for EPO.
In the early 1990s, EPO was introduced to the band Choro Club by a Brazilian mutual friend, who brought her to one of the band's rehearsals. EPO, having had an existing love for Brazilian music, went on to collaborate with Choro Club many times from the 1990s onwards.
Therapeutic career