Maiko Okamoto -- Juu-Ichi-Gatsu no Sophia（11月のソフィア）

When I first wrote about 80s aidoru Maiko Okamoto（岡本舞子）back on Xmas Eve 2016, I mentioned that I hadn't ever heard of her before. Well, that's not quite true anymore. That is to say, I hadn't heard about her but I did hear her.

To explain further while I have a slice of humble pie, a long time ago back in my university days when I was ravenously eating up various tapes and LPs listening to anyone and everyone from Japanese pop, there was a tape of 80s aidoru music that I had borrowed from someone. On that tape was one rather notable song in that I still remember the introductory crystalline synthesizer.

Last night, I got to hear that intro for the first time in virtually decades. But as has been the case with many a song that I heard in the 80s, I never got around to finding out the title or the singer. The mystery has finally been solved, though, and indeed, it is young Okamoto who was behind the vocals for this bittersweet tune titled "Juu-Ichi-Gatsu no Sophia" (November Sophia). Quite month-appropriate considering when I'm writing this.

"Juu-Ichi-Gatsu no Sophia" was Okamoto's 4th single released on November 1st 1985. It was composed by Kisaburo Suzuki（鈴木キサブロー）and arranged by Etsuko Yamakawa（山川恵津子）, and on seeing both names, I figured that this entry by the singer was a cut above the average teenybopper tune. Along with that synth, those strings nicely carry the wistful mood of a university student remembering the scenes of a past romance, including waiting for the fellow at a campus cafe, thanks to Yasushi Akimoto's（秋元康）lyrics.

Considering the title and the setting of the campus, I wondered whether the song was actually referring to Sophia University in Tokyo. Coincidentally enough, my Japanese language school graduating class in 1981 visited one of the two campuses in Tokyo during our trip through Japan, and at the welcome party, it was the first time I had eaten caviar (wasn't impressed with the roe, sorry to say). Anyways, to get back to "Juu-Ichi-Gatsu no Sophia", it peaked at No. 45 on Oricon.