oh gosh i hope not, smoking is a (in my opinion) disgusting habit that should be illegal. If i ran my own country it would be lol.

I think the pics you talk about are edired with Photoshop!
I really don't think Ayu smokes-cause she's not that kind of person.

I'm not trying to start an argument here, but I don't find anything wrong with her voice at all. I couldn't even say she was a smoker until Brittany told me :shrug. But if you think so, that's your opinion :)

And yeah, I could totally see Ayu smoking, even though I may not want her to, and whether this may be true or not.

Same here! I didn't know she was a smoker until Brittany said it! But I never really liked her voice before knowing that. For me, it was kinda like "Oh! So that's why her voice is so weak... She's a smoker!". XD

I think Ayu is a casual..ish smoker.

I mean most people smoke in Japan anyway, right? :/

Who cares if she smokes or not, its her life...she is not that kind of person? there is a kind of person who smokes? that means smokers are bad? I dont think so...I am not a smoker even I used to be in illegal age but I stopped for my own sake but everyone does what they want, if she wants to smoke then why bother? =)

^^i agree with you. Most people in Japan smoke anyway, its not seen the same as it is here in the US.

i think Ayu smokes every time to time. Not everyday, but maybe on special occasions or something

Maybe its because she mostly sings ballads and the like, its hard to exactly show, but you do make a valid point. Like in Glamorous Sky-- a rock song -- Mika looks like she's having a hard time singing during the performances.
And so as not to stray any further from the actual topic, I'll stop here. ;)

Though no one should smoke, artists should especially take that precaution.

Yes, I think she smokes from the pics I've seen. (Yes, they maybe tabloid, but I remember it the tabloid story wasn't about her smoking, it was about her celebrating her b-day at a gay bar without her bf or something)

I don't think she's a regular smoker. A casual one, at most.

Smoking in JPop is pretty weird. IMO, Gackt's voice hasn't changed because of it, and if at all, Shiina Ringo's non stop smoking has made her voice even crazier and stronger, in a way.

But, I wouldn't want to risk it.

^I agree.

And to be honest, it's her life.

Meh, I don't really care what she does on her own time. As Kikaru said, it's her life. Ayumi can do whatever she wants with her personal life. As long as she keeps looking cute and keeps churning out great music, I'm happy.

^_^ yeah...and as long as it doesnt kill her o_O! (musnt think that way o_o;;;)

Some people smoke cigarettes once in a blue moon. That's probably the case of ayu. Anyway, does it really matter if she smokes or not? It's her body and she does whatever she wants to it.

Mika Nakashima's vocals sound like that because she's a very shy person, not because of cigarettes. It's noticeable how she gets nervous when she sings, how she doesn't interact much in stages and how she can be rather clumsy on live shows. That's typical of someone who's anxyous. That's not because of cigarettes. For cigarettes to cause restriction of lung capacity and damage to the larynx, it needs years and years of regular smoking. Being nakashima that young, and I assume she isn't really a heavy smoker, you can't really blame the cigarettes for her vocals sounding the way they do. Maybe in 30 years or so we can make such assumptions but it's not like someone smokes 1 cigarette today and they will already have severe vocal impairment. (I honestly don't see any other problem in her vocals, they sound clean and nice. She does have signs of anxiety when singing sometimes though. And her last song, her voice is a little hoarse but well, I don't think it was smoking)

Ah, so that's the case. I feel bad for Mika; I hope that she would become more comfortable being on the stage. :(

but now,i think ayu doesn't becuz, smoking will do a lot of harm to her voice!

i wish she didn't. i hate it when ppl that sing smoke... itz kinda dumb...

ask j_nerd LOL :laugh

i think she does, but only during special occasion...like said above, but like everyone else, i dont care...its her life.

is it the "male" ayu smoking in the book?