Career
She is a resident of Sapporo, Hokkaido. In 1968, as a third-year high school student at the Asahi Gaoka High School in Sapporo, Hokkaidō, she made her debut in Shueisha"s Ribon manga magazine with Shiroi Same no iru Shima. In the late 1990s, Igarashi became involved in a number of legal battles related to her intellectual property rights as an illustrator.
Igarashi claimed that in series for which she was the illustrator, she should hold sole intellectual property rights to the portrayals of the characters, and not need the consent of her authors to license merchandise based on their likenesses.
This legal battle paralyzed the franchise for several years, interfering with Toei"s production of a Candy Candy anime, and making the creation of new merchandise difficult due to the court"s order that all merchandise be approved by both Igarashi and Mizuki, but a trickle of new merchandise was produced in 2004, suggesting some agreement had been reached.