Chizu to Tegami to Koi no Uta - 04.04.2007

Translation note: I started to do a summary but it ended up much easier to write in first person as I could hear it in second half of the show. I'm going to dodge in an out of summary and first person. Italics mark Maaya's speech! If you have any corrections or additions to make please don't hesitate to contribute. I'm a first timer (^_~) I'll clear up my technique from this entry *hopefully*. Anyway, as

Good evening, this is Maaya Sakamoto!! Starting from today this is my radio show: Sakamoto Maaya: Chizu to Tegami to Koi no Uta! For the next 15 minutes please spend some time with me. This is my first radio show with TBS  and I'm really nervous, and today is the first time so I thought I'd introduce myself.

My real name is Maaya Sakamoto and I actually debuted as a singer, but for the last ten years I've been a singer, and an actress, do stage shows and as do work as a seiyuu (anime, dubbing western films). Well, you could say a 'voice' for dubbing.

Maaya gives an example of playing Padme in the new Star Wars films because she thinks it the work that the Japanese listeners will know best. It’s a really famous film so maybe everyone watched it with subtitles but people with the dvd can listen to the Japanese dub. She'll be really happy if you listen to it once to hear her voice.

As for Stage works she talks about being in Les Miserables again from June. She's been playing Eponine for about five years and the show will be in Tokyo till September then will go on to be played at Fukuoka.

Maaya then discusses her music career and finds the fact she has 13 singles and 9 albums surprising, she’d never counted but it was written down in front of her and she thought to herself ‘oh that’s right…' and thought that 'wow, I did that unexpectedly!!'. The newest of which is 30 Minutes Night Flight but she catches herself and says 'oh well this is probably boring if I keep talking about this information!'.

The programs title is a bit long but please remember it everyone! Why it was chosen? Well actually this month my lyrics book of the same title is being released. Tt's the first time I’ve produced a lyrics book but actually in my ten years as a singer I’ve sung a lot of songs. Close to 100 songs!

She says she's written a lot of songs but:

Something separated from the melody, just the world of the words in the song – because I wanted to make a piece of work that could be left behind I wanted to make a lyrics book. That wish was granted and it will be put on sale on the 18th.

Maaya comments that there will be about 84 songs that are in it that she feels come completely from herself.

For myself, these songs are the ones that when I hear the music, I can think that being a singer is very important. When I hear the music, I’m the type that thinks the number one thing is the lyrics and when I write them myself too, honestly it takes a long time as I want to write them carefully. Always as I write them, even separated from the music, I form the lyrics carefully and because the words are always there at the forefront of my mind as I write them I think it will be enjoyable even if you just read them as a poem. So to people who have heard the name Sakamoto Maaya before now as a singer, once more please look at the lyrics and I will be happy!

On the topic of words, I always take them as an important thing. In this program I will take a word as a theme and try to communicate it by, for example, receiving your mails. The words will be ones we always use and hear a lot and I want to once more think carefully about them and introduce lots of different people’s stories. I thought that would be good. So your mails are the life of this show, from today please send lots more.

Firstly, as for what kind of word would be good I’ve been thinking about “thank you”. An extremely singular word. I think first I’d like to talk about that as a theme

"Thankyou". Recently when did you say that? What do you think? As for me, basically I try say it as much as possible. It’s difficult. Well, as you might expect, when one is grateful really from the bottom of one’s heart, ‘thank you’ is sort of….I think it is glossed over and said too easily. Somehow…I don’t think there is a word that can communicate gratitude more, but it’s said too easily. I think to the point where ‘thank you’ falls short. But after all, the number one simplest phrase is ‘thank you’, isn’t it?

Overseas when I was travelling the first word I learn is that country’s word for ‘thank you’ and also ‘its delicious!’. Even with just this, we can communicate. And the most important word (thank you) is also very simple. But, there are even times when it won’t come out easily - So I would like to send out your episodes about ‘thank you’ on this show

For myself, I have a lot but right now the first one I can remember since I was born is the theme contained in the foundation of this programs title. A theme of a ‘Journey’. An event I can remember to do with journey as a theme is the first journey I took by myself.

In the first grade of elementary school, I lived in Tokyo and one time I went by myself to my mother’s home prefecture Saga in Kyushu. Well, my parents took me to the airport, and sent me through and at Saga by grandparents came to get me. My journey alone was only the airplane, but for me as an elementary school student it was a huge journey! I was really nervous and it was really sad even though it was only an hour or so. I felt like I was really all alone, if something went wrong then who would it be ok to ask to save me?

Because I was nervous the flight attendant brought me juice and I tried to drink it but I spilt it all over my hands! It went all over the top of the seat too as well as my clothes. Because I didn’t know who to ask for help, I was just completely lost. There was a man in the seat next to me, some kind of office worker returning home maybe, an older man in a suit. Actually, I thought the whole time he was next to me ‘woah he’s kinda scary’ and I didn’t want to look at him. He had a scary aura. But that man quickly took out a pure white handkerchief from his pocket and said ‘use this’ and passed it to me.

This was a pure white handkerchief and I was really sorry to mop up with it and get orange juice on it. So after only mopping up a little I handed it back to him and sort of said ‘thank you’. However, I’m not sure if he heard it or not and I will still all wet. And so he said ‘Mop up!!’ (laugh) and again I was really, really sorry about it. However, I was REALLY soaked and so I mopped up that as well as my seat and table. I returned it to him like all orange but when I gave back that soaking handkerchief, I couldn’t really say thank you. I think I was embarrassed. I was a child and because I had made that kind of failure in front of him I guess. Even now I feel like crying when I think about it but I held back the words and couldn’t say it to that scary old man. I couldn’t meet his eyes or say nice words like thank you and until the plane's touchdown I felt really bad and I remember sitting there very quietly.

But like this I became an adult and even those it's years ago I remember it now and even now I’m grateful. Since then at many points at work and in my private life I’ve been to many places aboard and in japan. I became able to go many places. And in the middle of those trips when I didn’t know the way and such many people have helped me out, and when that happens I remember that old man and so I think that was my very first good ‘encounter’ with someone on a journey. I was moved that this type of kind person was travelling as well.

That I couldn’t say thank you in this particular episode has been left in my heart. Since then I’ve become to like journeys more and although the people I meet on those journeys I might not meet again now I can think ‘I want to be able to say it [thank you]'. So everyone, the stories about the thank yous you have and have not said are fine, andalso  stories about the thank yous you want to say and other various messages can be sent to me, so please send them.

[contact details read out]

You can also send emails at TBS radios home page. And on that note today was the first time and since I was nervous I might have spoken quite fast but how was it? From today please tune in and I’m looking forward to seeing you again next week. Now is the time to part, bye bye!!

Maaya tunes off. And that concludes the first 'Chizu to Tegami to Koi no Uta' (Maps and Letters and Love Songs) from TBS Radio!! You can download the podcast on itunes if you search for Maaya's name in kanji for free!! I hope this translation wasn't too bad!! Did you enjoy it?? ^_^ see you soon!!