In 1969, a Maruzen Petroleum commercial featuring a woman wearing a miniskirt with the copy “Oh! became a buzzword that same year. She became a household name, but at the height of her popularity at the age of 22, she married Minoru Kawai, a racer. However, only six months later, she lost her husband in an accident during a race. Photo] Rosa Ogawa, who dominated the scene with “Oh! Mouretsu” (5th photo/11 photos)
Ms. Ogawa, who dominated the Showa era with her commercials, could you tell us first how you got into the entertainment business?
Ms. Ogawa: I was scouted by a modeling agency when I was attending Bunka Fashion College. But I wasn’t interested at the time and left it at that. The turning point came when I was 21 years old. I was dumped by my boyfriend at the time. Until then, I was embarrassed to go out in public and lacked self-confidence, but I thought, “I want to change myself. Then I remembered the business card I received when I was scouted, called the number on it, and started working as a model.
TM: And within a year or so, you appeared in a Maruzen Petroleum commercial that became a social phenomenon. Ogawa: There were not many models at that time, so I had a lot of opportunities to work. I was working for a fashion magazine for about a year when I was asked to do a commercial for Maruzen Sekiyu’s “Moretsu. I was neither particularly tall nor skinny. So at the site where they were deciding who to cast, most people were against it, saying, “An ordinary girl like her won’t do. But I heard later that I was able to appear in that commercial thanks to a strong recommendation from the advertising department, who said, “An ordinary girl would be more memorable.
At the peak of your popularity, you got married and decided to retire from show business. Ogawa: I was very busy. I worked so hard that I didn’t even have time to sleep. I was so occupied with the work I had received that I was desperate to do what was right in front of me. If I had even a little time, I would sleep. That was my daily routine. Of course I was happy to be talked about, but I was surrounded by so many people everywhere I went that I didn’t have time to relax.