"The song that changed my life was definitely 'Kishibe no Haha'. I took a break from singing once, but I decided to come back after listening to Yuriko Futaba's songs..." Fuyumi Sakamoto, who debuted with "Abare Taiko" and has had many hits such as "Yozakura Oshichi" and "Mata Kimi ni Koishiteru", began by saying this. The biggest crisis in her singing career was in the spring of 2002, when she announced that she would be taking a break from all activities. It was exactly her 15th anniversary. The reason was that five years earlier, her beloved father had suddenly died in an accident, and she had fallen ill. At that time, various speculations were floating around, but she sold everything in her house and headed to her hometown in Wakayama Prefecture, where her mother lives. There, she looked back on the time she had been running since her debut and tried to regain the self she had lost. That was when she encountered Yuriko Futaba's "Kishibe no Haha". "I saw a TV program showing Futaba-sensei's 65th anniversary concert, and my mother, who happened to be watching it, told me, 'Futaba Yuriko is singing it.' During my hiatus, I didn't watch any TV at all, but at that time, I was taken aback and was fascinated by the teacher's 'Mother of the Wharf.' That was the trigger for me to write a letter to the teacher, visit her at home, and become her apprentice." The first time he remembered 'Mother of the Wharf,' he said, was at his birthday party in the fifth grade of elementary school. He loved enka since he was a child, and "made a mini-play" of this song, which was popular at the time. "I played the mother, Hashino Ise, and my friend played the son, Shinji. I didn't really understand the story, so the son returns from the battlefield, reunites with Ise, and the mother and son embrace each other at the end, which was different from the song (laughs)." We met on a music program after my debut. I greeted him in the dressing room. I had a chance to ask Futaba about what it was like at that time. "I was a newbie, but I sat in the chair in front of the teacher and greeted him at the same eye level. He said that it made a big impression on him and he remembered me well." ■ "You hit a singing wall, too," Fuyumi said. Futaba's first impression of her was, "I always saw her singing with passion, so I thought she was a strong mother, a scary teacher. But she gently told me to do my best, and it was different from the image I had in my mind." Because of this, Fuyumi was able to write a letter with her phone number attached, saying, "If you would like to contact me," and she immediately called me, saying, "It's Futaba. Please come right away." A few days later, I visited Futaba in Tokyo. The first thing he said to me was, "You hit a singing wall, too." I asked him back, "You too, teacher?" He advised me, "I've hit a wall many times and overcome it. Recognizing that wall is proof of growth. There are some people who don't notice it." She was told on the spot, "It's a rokyoku vocalization, but try singing out loud," and following Futaba's lead, she sang out loud for the first time in months. "I was desperate. I remember feeling dizzy and shocked while singing, like I was being hit by a manga and stars coming out of my eyes." After that, "Kishibe no Haha" became even more important to Fuyumi. Futaba asked her to continue singing it. "Eight years ago, when Futaba sensei retired, I stayed with her and my husband at Wakura Onsen (Ishikawa Prefecture), which is close to the grave of Hashino Ise. At the time, she said to me, 'I want Fuyumi to continue singing this song.' She had always sung the long version of the popular rakugo song 'Kishibe no Haha', but she said that I was the only one who could continue to sing it, so I immediately replied, 'I can't do it.' She said that like her, I have never experienced war, and have never given birth to a child. She said that I would not be able to express Ise's feelings, and that it would be presumptuous of me to continue singing it. But she said, 'You don't have to sing this song well. Just sing it from your heart.' So I said, 'I understand,' but I asked Futaba sensei to continue singing it as long as her voice is strong, even after she retires." At the Meijiza theater's performance in June, she sang the shorter version, but with dialogue included. "From now on, we will be doing concerts that include 'Mother on the Wharf' at a pace of about every two years. I really put my soul into singing this song. I don't sing it as an act or for technique's sake, but rather I need to convey from my heart that war is wrong and that such a tragic story has