Chapter 10



   In June, the same year, a man arrived at his post as Agnes new manager. It was said that he was her 10th or 11th manager. His name is 金子力 Riki Kaneko. He was born on March 17th, 1954. His father is 春吉 Shunkichi and his mother is 久良子 Kurako. His father own a cleaning business. After graduated from the sociology department of Waseda University, he entered the Watanabe Agency in 1977. He worked at the publicity department for four years and took charge of 沢田研二 Kenji Sawada during the time. After that, he became a manager.

At first, he took charge of 速水葉子Youko Hayam, then began to take charge of Agnes. He stands 175 cm, and a year older than her. And he was difference from others, because he did not press her to growing up into adult like her previous managers. By contrast, he lent his ear to what she said and even understood that. He said, "I understand what you say. In order to do it, why don't we fulfill our norms first?" And she gave him a nod. After that, Agnes energetically performed "norms."

Actually she sang at supermarkets that sold vegetables and others, and did not refuse to appear on variety programs. Getting a closer look at her, he thought. "She is not just a singer, or not an ordinary talent. She has a rich intelligence with fresh sensibility. And she has a rich global experience. If I can take advantage of those for her activities..." Gradually, the orientation of his promotion for her became clear. If you look at her subsequent success, you would see what his intention was to build her into a multi-talented intelligent entertainer with rich international sensibility, which was not a precedented type of entertainer so much till then.
 

At the end of1982, he got a job as a reporter to visit U.S. for the coverage of space shuttle. He also got a regular position of the panelist of the quiz program "なるほど!ザ・ワールド Naruhodo ! the World," which was a popular program at that time.

Through this program, he made her introduce another side of her. And he paid notice to her as an actress, so he got a casting role of the NHK's long drama "山河燃ゆ Sanga-Moyu."


[ At NASA ]



   Another important thing was that he brought full-fledged writing business to her. Before then, she wrote and published books, but he wanted her to write various books that she could apply her abilities. The contents of those books were, for example, Chinese cooking, introduction of Hong Kong or her essays in which she put her frank opinions or her thoughts into shape. In 1984, she won a special award from the Pope for the essay for peace she applied, for which was put out a call as a part of the event of the International Youth Year. And she performed the master of ceremony at the "International Symposium for Peace" held in Vatican.
  

 By the way, she seemed to become to like the new way of the self-expression in writing, so she has
published many books after 1985.

 
   Of course, he had made a strong effort to promote Agnes as a singer. In 1983, He made the agency resume her full-scale concerts, and made the record company release two albums in a row, "小さな質問 Chiisana Shitsumon" and "Girl Friends," which were important ones at that period. Especially, "Girl Friends" which she self-produced and invited many guest artists for the album, and made the all songs be ones.

I think this album can be treated as some sort of the bottom line of her musical activities till then, and can be said this is one of her most important albums in the sense of the expression of her individuality by herself. On the other hand, she also released the album "願你繼續醉 " in Hong Kong at that period.
 

Thus, this year, 1983, was a musically fruitful year for her after a long year.
 

   The next year, 1984, she did not release any album. This is because her activities as a actress or essayist became took off and she put her effort into them, different from 1982.

    As described, it can be said that her success from the end of 1982 to 1984 is not only just a revival, but also a blossoming of another side of her unstinted flair. This depended mainly on the ability of her manager 金子力, who accurately had an insight into her capability. Conversely, because Agnes was brilliant, he was able to exert his skill as a manager as much as he wanted. Those two in synch steadily achieved satisfactory results.
 

   And, as the time goes by, they two looked at each other as a man and a woman, beyond business associates. For him, it was when they visited Rome in 1984, that he became clearly to aware of looking at Agnes as a woman. For Agnes, indeed she felt kindly toward him and placed her confidence in him as a man who well understood her, but she herself had decided to get married to Chinese. This was also her mother's hope. At least, she thought so until 1984. Actually, she was introduced six Chinese men by her relatives and four Chinese men by her friends. But she had no subsequent progress with any of them. On the other hand, another feeling toward him began to grow deeper in her heart without her knowing. At any rate, finally the year 1985 came to Agnes.

1985 was the most important year in the first half of her life. First of all, it was her musical achievement, she accomplished an exploit of the turnout of 54,000 people at her three times performance of the charity concert for children held at the capital gymnasium in Beijing, China, hosted by the 宋慶齡 Song Qingling Foundation of China. This made her realize that she was accepted by her homeland of China as a singer and a fellowman. She was in the fullness of her heart. And this success became a big opportunity for her seriously to tackle the charity activities.

[ The concert in Beijing ]

 

And because of  the success of the concert in Beijing, Agnes received the certification that she performed charity activity in China, from the then president 鄧小平 Teng Xiaoping, a Chinese leader. However, in February, before the concert, a musically more important event for her happened when she visited with her mother to her mother's hometown 貴州 Guizhou for the first time. Agnes was greeted by her song the village children sang. She was not able to believe her ears. The song was one she recorded in Taiwan. The Taiwan songs were prohibited in the continent China, so her song should have been known to the children in the rural village. But, why did those children know the song?. It was because her mother hid the cassette tape between the old clothes she sent from Hong Kong to her relatives in the village.

Because the children thought Agnes might come back someday, they had eagerly done the practice of the song for her using the tape. Agnes cried at a touch of the children's homely and kind voice. She had a thing she had been gradually forgetting in the course of her pursuing her own music under the pressure of the demand of the commercial results as a professional singer. And she found it in their singing. Song comforts people. Song ties in with together. Agnes had recalled the most wonderful side of song.

 
How great the power of song is! Shivering with emotion, she felt shame at her own self who had thought to quit singing without much thought. And she felt grateful that she was a singer, and she decided to continue to sing.

 
Agnes cleared a wall. This must have had a large influence on the concert in Beijing. And of course, this experience became a big turning point of her musical activity. On the other hand, her visiting to 貴州 Guizhou also brought a nice gift in her personal side.
 

She was told by him, her manager, that he wanted her to go with him. She did not intend to go privately with anyone who she was not going to get married. She knew that he knew it. So, she took his words as his marriage proposal. And she accepted it.

In addition,1985 was also a year in that a big turning point in her volunteer activity. In May, Agnes visited as an overall hostess of the Nihon TV's program "24時間テレビ24-jikan TV" to the Refugee Camp Shilinka, Ethiopia, which was operated directly by Nihon Television Company. And she saw the actual condition of Africa with her own eyes. She was deeply shocked by such harsh condition. She was seriously torn for a while between staying and not staying at the camp in order to help them. It goes without saying that she appealed for Africa aid after she returned to Japan. Thus, her tender eyes became to fasten not only on the Asia, but also on the wide world.

[ At Camp Shilinka. Agnes applied eyewash to children. ]



At Camp Shilinka too, Agnes found the importance of song. It was very song, not word or food, which made children regain smile and flipped on a ray of hope in adults’ eyes. She anew realized that song was absolutely necessary for spiritual aid, like that food and medical product were necessary for physical aid.

[ At Camp Shilinka. Agnes sang songs with children.]

 



Moreover, 1985 was the year that she was voted as one of the Ten Outstanding Persons in Hong Kong  by the reason of her longtime activities having remarkably enhanced the image of Hong Kong internationally.

Ten Outstanding Persons in Hong Kong

 

And, what happened in her personal side? Through the visit to Africa, the two made sure of their love and knew that they were needed each other by any means for their lives. They rapidly leaned toward getting married. However, they were not able to get married without much resistance.

 At first, it was a problem that he was her manager. In Japan's show business, romance or marriage between talent and his or her manager is considered taboo. So, he had to retire from her manager for her to continue to work in the show business with no difficulty after marriage. His retirement to get married was not their true intention. They suffered what to do. they have cried at their acquaintance's house on that matter.

However, he left the Watanabe Agency at the end of July. This shows that he made a firm decision to get married to Agnes. Actually, he went to Hong Kong with his parents on August 19th, to visit her mother 陳彭端淑 to obtain the permission of the marriage with her. Because that was a sudden offer, she did not say OK quickly. He returned to Japan on 23rd with no clear acceptance of the permission.

In the beginning of September, a women’s magazine debunked that Agnes was close to marriage. And on 4th, Agnes held a press conference at the recording studio “Sound City” in Azabu-dai, Tokyo. She said at the conference that she was seeing him with view of marriage, said to her mother about him and would get her answer when she went back to Hong Kong in October for the rewriting her visa, and others.

There was a bit of optimistic feeling in her words that she would be able to get the acceptance of her mother and her relatives.

 
However, Agnes’ arbitrary announcement in the foreign country Japan before telling her relatives, incurred the displeasure of her mother and her relatives. So, she had trouble in persuading them after she went back to Hong Kong. It is said that her mother and her relatives expressed disapproval of her marriage with him at the family meeting held both on 13th, the day when she went back to Hong Kong, and on the following day, 14th. It is also said that there was person (s) who clearly stood opposed to her marriage among her relatives. However, 陳彭端淑 backed off while looking at Agnes who intently  continued the persuasion. At the family meeting on 15th, she stood on the side of Agnes and persuaded the relatives together. And finally, she got their acceptance

.
On 17th, Agnes returned to Japan with 陳彭端淑 and held a press conference at the airport formally to announce her marriage. On 21st, she held a party combined her birthday party she could not hold in August in the year. She invited people close to her to the party and anew announced her marriage.
 

After that, she exchanged engagement presents with him in Hong Kong on December 17th, according to the fortune telling, and on 25th, held the hair thinning-out ceremony (Chinese-style wedding) in Japan. And on the same day, they had their marriage registered in Yokohama City. And on January 11th of the next year, 1986, they held a Christian-style wedding at the THE CATHEDRAL OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION  香港天主教總堂 in Hong Kong.


Thus, the year 1985 became a wonderful year for Agnes both officially and privately.
 

The year 1985 was a big turning point for Agnes. The year can be said to be an ending-point for her from the aspect of the harvest time of her life before that. At the same time, it can be also said to be a starting-point for her from the aspect of the determination of the direction of her activity after that.

Only she knows what she thought about her past and what she consigned to her future in that turning-point year. Someone says, " The past is a starting-point of the present, and a leading mark to the future." If this is true, at the time of 1985, her past before that  should have indicated her future after that. And, her life was proceeding exactly like the words.