I.D Essay Book - My Ideal 'Thirties' Woman

I seriously love the new edition of I.D. It is the perfect size to hold in one hand! Do I mind that I have two copies of the same book? No! Anyway, I think Maaya answered her own question at the end of this essay at the Budokan concert - sharing her birthday with thousands of people can't be bad!

I really wish that one day an official English version of I.D is translated by a professional and released by Flying Dog or someone...does anyone think that is possible? Would there ever be enough international interest in these books to warrant publication overseas? Girls' Generation have shown it is possible to get official English versions released but...is Maaya just too niche to get the same attention?

I guess that it would cost too much money for an official translation and publication (T_T) still, an official English homepage would be nice!

My Ideal ‘Thirties’ Woman

By Maaya Sakamoto 
Originally published in I.D.

Among my acquaintances there is a woman I shall call Ms. M who is very popular with both men and women. She is eight years older than me and works as a promoter at my record company. She isn’t flashy, has a strong sense of justice and is always smiling. She can get along with anyone. 

Something unforgettable happened when my single ‘Hashiru’ was released. Ms. M had just become my PR manager and it was at the beginning of our working relationship.

In order to promote ‘Hashiru’ Ms. M had been making the rounds of various media outlets such as radio stations and magazines. But without a big tie-up and because I wasn’t famous even if she gave them a sample CD more often than not she was brushed off with, “We’ll listen to it later.” It wasn’t unreasonable, they were receiving several CDs a day and on top of the desk would be a mountain of sample CDs all piled up. Most likely they would not listen to them all.

One day she was more pushy than usual: “This is a great song, please listen to it,” and the other party replied, “Really? What’s good about it?” I don’t know what she was thinking but apparently she sang the first chorus of the song right there on the spot. Ms. M’s unexpected action took the person off guard and it seems they put the CD on straight away saying, “You’re quite a character. OK! Let’s listen right now.” She says that she did it because at that moment she wanted to make them listen just once with all her heart, but I’ve never heard of another promoter who would promote the song by singing it themselves.

Ms. M always puts her all into what she’s doing. She will fall in love with the artists she is put in charge of and does not hold back on her affection. She treated me with more kindness than I deserved.

The night before my third album ‘Lucy’ was released, I went drinking until the early hours with some staff members in Harajuku. At 5am when the shop was closing there were about two other groups of customers besides us. Ms. M, quite pissed, was babbling drunkenly, “She’s amazing! Maaya Sakamoto is amazing! I’ll follow her to the end!”

She accosted the waiter who brought our bill saying, “I’m really sorry to bother you but can you please put on this CD? It goes on sale tomorrow. It’s really good, please put it on.” She’s a pretty devious drunk…I was embarrassed and brought the conversation to a close with a friendly smile, “No, don’t worry about it.”

A little while later, thinking that Ms. M had been in the bathroom a long time I looked around to find her in the back of the shop chatting to the staff about something. She was pressuring them to put ‘Lucy’ on.

Finally, after Ms. M had put the heat on them, the staff really did play the CD. ‘Lucy’ is a nice album but I wouldn’t have said it was a particularly good fit for a French-style bar. But I was really happy and Ms. M cried again.

When she comes to my concerts or plays she is always crying somehow. Before she comes to see them, when the opening night draws near, she will go to pray at a shrine dedicated to a god of the arts on my behalf. She has the quick reflexes of a Kansai woman on her comebacks. She is quick to realise when there is something up with me. She lectures me when I complain. Always laughing, always crying, always getting cross. If I was a man I would want to make her my wife.

When she entered her thirties, as it was an important turning point age-wise I secretly planned to give her a special present. It was something I couldn’t possibly do on my own: I got all the people who knew Ms. M well to write her a message. After I floated the idea to them, over sixty people took part out of their affection for Ms. M. 

What was surprising was that it was not in the least bit difficult to gather all these messages together. All of the participants were really helpful, and all the messages were incredibly detailed and overflowing with words straight from the heart. There was no flattery or things said out of politeness. I understood once again how far and how deep her personal connections went. I had thought of the idea for the present and stuck the messages into an album but in reality I hadn’t done anything at all. This wonderful present was a success of Ms. M’s thirty years of life. This was a treasure that she had created herself. 

When I go over to her house to hang out the album is always on display for everyone to see. The front cover is a cute portrait of Ms. M drawn by an artist she manages. She says that, “If there was an earthquake then this is what I would escape with.” 

When I turn thirty, I wonder if I will be able to celebrate my birthday together with so many people like she did.

I’m not very confident!!