There was a sad but happily not tragic announcement on NHK's news broadcast this morning. Singer-songwriter Takako Okamura（岡村孝子）announced on her website that she has been diagnosed with acute leukemia which will require immediate and long-term treatment. All of her professional activities have therefore come to a stop.
I can speculate that this must be hard news for all of her fans since for decades, Okamura has been providing her brand of comforting music. That's how I've always seen her. Through her works, I've felt that she was that ever-dependable friend coming over for tea weekly who would lend an ear to any troubles. Hopefully, her listeners will now lend their ears and support to her.
Following the breakup of the duo Aming（あみん）in 1983 which consisted of Okamura and Haruko Kato（加藤晴子）, the former made her way back up to Tokyo to begin her solo career. Her first single as a solo artist was "Kaze wa Umi kara" (The Wind is from the Ocean) which was released in October 1985. Apparently, the song was used as the campaign tune for an FM Yokohama radio program with the same title.
"Kaze wa Umi kara" didn't make the Oricon charts but it is what I've expected from Okamura. It's a relaxing and tenderhearted remembrance of an old flame who has gone forward in his life with a new partner. Okamura wrote and composed the song while Mitsuo Hagita（萩田光雄）arranged it. Her first album "Yume no Ki"（夢の樹...Dream Tree）which came out on the same day as the single includes "Kaze wa Umi kara" as a track. It peaked at No. 37 on the charts.
Of course, there isn't much that I can do for Okamura but I can only hope that she will get a handle on this disease so that she can return and entertain her fans once more.
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