Mother’s illness and isolation from daughter plague Seiko Matsuda as she celebrates 40th anniversary

In the late afternoon of late October, singer Seiko Matsuda (59) appeared from the back entrance of Nippon Broadcasting System (Chiyoda Ward), surrounded by nearly 10 staff members. She was in a good mood the whole time as she got into the pick-up car with a smile on her face, rolled down the window and kept waving to the staff who were seeing her off even after the car started driving.

Her 40th anniversary album “SEIKO MATSUDA 2021” was released on the 20th of last month and reached No. 4 on the Oricon chart. Last year, her 40th anniversary tour was postponed due to the Covid-19 disaster, but she finished her Nippon Budokan concert on March 24, and her first film, “Folklore 2: The Day the Wind Blew,” will be screened at the Tokyo International Film Festival on March 30.

“There are no idols who can self-produce as well as she can. She is going back to her roots in the 80’s, when she was at her best, and is winning over her fans again.

I’d like to say she’s doing great, but she’s got a lot of problems.

I’d like to say she’s doing great, but she’s got a lot of problems. “Last year, her concert tours and year-end dinner shows were postponed or scaled back one after another due to the Covid-19 disaster, and her official Felicia Club store in Omotesando closed due to poor sales. The loss is said to exceed 500 million yen. In addition, Seiko’s mother, Ichiko, who had supported her for many years, collapsed and was unable to work satisfactorily for many years. Ichiko’s health is still not stable, so she is working vigorously to make up for the loss while continuing to take care of her.

That’s not the only source of worry. The source of his worries is his relationship with his daughter Sayaka Kanda (35), with whom he is in a state of isolation. Since Sayaka’s divorce from actor Mitsuru Murata (44) in 2007, they have not been in contact at all. Seiko was furious that Sayaka decided to divorce him without any consultation or explanation, and also because of the reports of her alleged affair with a Japanese idol.

“As the two had often performed duets together at Seiko’s concerts until 2006, the sponsor’s disappointment at the mother-daughter split was huge, and the damage to her image was unavoidable. Seiko’s main source of income is from concerts, live performances and dinner shows where she takes in customers. Because of last year’s loss, it would be difficult for her to organize a large-scale event without sponsor support. I would like to reconcile with my daughter and try to restore my image. In fact, I heard that Seiko has been trying to approach Sayaka before her 60th birthday, but Sayaka has been very difficult to deal with.

Can the bond between mother and daughter be regained?

From “FRIDAY” November 19, 2021 issue