0.0 all this fuss just because of that!!!
no sweat for ayu as long as she doesnt go into jail

I wouldn't be surprised if it was a calculated act... IMO she wanted to be near her fans (she is doing this for a while now, isn't she?) and doing some noise...

whatever may happens i hope its not jail sentence....
all the best ayu
she's really naughty :o

Her sentence is translated in english a bit rudely, but I agree with her 100%.
I do not buy some crap other people are saying in this thread about being famous, etc.
Tell me again when it became illegal to walk into stores?
Tell me again when it became illegal to walk the streets?
Regardless who you are, you have the same rights as anyone else, and it cannot be taken away.

Just because she is a famous celebrity, doesn't mean she must mind her own business, and live in a prison.
Let's impose the same limits upon the people who say that because she is a famous person she must go through this, and see how long you could survive.
How about lets fine you guys for walking through the streets of your own city.

I dont think she should apologize at all for what happened.
I wouldnt want to have the same restrictions on myself, so I dont wish for her to apologize for her freedom.
I would rather her popularity drop thousands of points than apologize for exercising her right to freedom.

I'm not a famous star that draws crowds of peoples, so this comparison makes no sense to me. However, if i gather together a lot of people and make a riot that blocks the streets with no further permission, I'll actually be recived with smoke bombs and some hard beating from the police. People keep on comparing how would it feel to be on ayu shoes...We aren't celebrities like she is. That's the one and huge difference about it. If you think celebrities get the same treatment and have lives exactly as regular people in this world, maybe it's time for a reality check to really know there's a real life out there, instead of only reading artists pre-produced blogs and thinking life revolves around those.


You aren't a celebrity :shrug And the concept of "freedom" is relative. ayu doesn't have the right for having the freedom of taking people's right of passing/driving through the streets like making a crazy appearance causing twisted fans to block the traffic.

I'm not sure what it's like in your country, but most developed, democratic countries allow freedom of movement. This means you can go wherever you want, whenever you want.

She's still a person, an individual, she is not property of the state and is governed by the same laws and rights as any other individual. If she wants to go to a shop, she does not need to ask permission or get government approval. Are you suggesting she's not allowed to go out IN PUBLIC without approval? that's house arrest, and is so far against human rights it's ridiculous.

The event is one thing, if they didn't seek permission. But as to her being able to freely go where she pleases, they have no right to try to stop her.

If Japan does have some laws to restrict an individual's basic human rights just because they're famous, then I'm sorry but that's just wrong.

Really? so you mean I can enter every bank's safe room whenever I want? And in such countries I can also break into anybody's house whenever and wherever I want? :eek I'm really curious to get to know these countries. :yes

Exactly. Which she knows and has always understood.

Which makes it most likely that she had her staff check for her first before she went anywhere.

Which means that it's their fault for telling her she had the okay, and now her being in trouble for it.

Of course she recognizes these charges as totally ridiculous...and so I'm hoping perhaps she won't fire anyone...but like I've said...I highly doubt it.


None of the rest of the details even matter because when it comes down to it, Ayu does in fact need permission to go places, which is in the hands of her staff. She asks them "can we do it" they check and say yes or no.

She doesn't know any different. What she does has always been in other peoples hands...now how she acts about it, is another thing...we don't know if she's difficult, or makes a fuss...or if she's passive...or what...

So I mean...if they said no, and she gave them a hard time and stormed out or something marching to the stores...I mean, that's different...then it is on her.

Yeah she clearly said she thought everything was in order, so can they really blame her for it?

Impact Breaker
You who lives in Brazil knows how easy is to meet with A LOT of celebrities living on some places (mainly Rio and Sampa, but you can meet some on Minas and Bahia too)

Hikki is used to keep doing her everyday things in Japan, she is aways comenting this kind of stuff on her blog

I believe that Ayu's act was kind of calculated but that she didn't have any idea of the numer of fans there. Still, I don't think she needs to apologize for taking a walk... she is a normal person (actually, celebrities ARE normal people) and seens to be more and more interested in enjoying the non-celebrite side of her life these days...

She was totally right? Not really, but it's not that serious... if someone really got THAT hurt, this would not take so long to have such a big fuss over this

This is not about equal rights. This is about her and the effects of what can happen when a popular celebrity starts bringing a lot of attention to herself on the public streets. Any celebrity should have the responsibility to notify what they intend to do so others can prepare especially if there's going to be road blocks. That way the police, medical personal, or firemen can plan accordingly in case of an emergency. This is a smart thing, Ayu will look very bad if someone didn't get to the hospital on time because she wanted to promote her book.

People may have the same rights, but everyone has different responsibilties. Ayu should know better. Most people don't have that responsibilty so they can freely walk whereever they want. Ayu cannot or should not, so I strongly disagree with what she said. I encourage everyone else to disagree with her statement because it's healthy, that shows we are concern for her public image, but more importantly, the safety of others.

I think the 'quote' of what she said is being taken a little too seriously. Christ, peoplez.

^Probably because it's seriously funny :laugh

Wooh?! What a weird situation. It's okay Ayu, this is not your fault.

That is incredibly dehumanizing. She shouldn't have to get permission to walk on the street. Sure she obtained the location illegally and the crowd was terrible but I would blame avex for that not Ayu personally (in which they tend to make out in these articles).

The Police's suck...

The Police's suck...
I don't know if Japan is that strict...
But, I think it's ayu's fault too...I watch the video, and there's a stage to promote her photobook and NEXT LEVEL, so i think she must have the permission to do this...

I hope she won't be jailed...
Ayu, you're so naughty...Hahaha

"Also, shortly before the book lanch event, Hamasaki visited TSUTAYA, HMV, Tower Records and other large CD stores in the area. In a surprise of this event, crazy energized fans were going to chase Hamasaki from shop to shop, which led to wild conditions in the streets."

She went to the stores BEFORE the event, she didn't know or estimate the number of people that were there most likely. I still don't think that anything of it is her fault.

I don't know if it's reckless.
Since from what she said (if it's what she said) she thought that the permission was taken care of and also I don't think she thought she has the "power" to bring up 8000 people there.
Even if she is a celebrity and has responsibilities, she is not a fortune teller.

And even if she had a permission, wouldn't it be just the same? The roads there would be blocked and stuff so the only difference would be is that she has a permission to do it (and block the roads).

Ok, so her presence cause the commotion, not her.

And what was the effect? Nothing too serious I presume.

No one got injured, no one died, so why are they following this up so strictly.

Simple, they want to pull her down.

Poor Ayu, cannot even walk on the streets like a normal Japanese without being investigated by the police.

omg..this sounded serious

I think it's dumb people are making such a fuss about this and considering the drunk&naked SMAP guy was forgiven for making several people's eyes bleed this will prolly cool down even faster.

would really be cool, i imagine driving in a bus and theres suddenly ayu hanging next to the window xD

An article said that 92% of the fans have forgiven him xD though I guess Japanese public didn't. Anyways this is very different and Ayu herself did nothing wrong, AVEX and her management did.

^ and ayu probably was forgiven for this thing by 99,9999999% of her fans xD

It wouldn't. It's completely different. When roads are blocked after being planned, signs can be placed and the routes are redone during a low traffic period (late night) in order to avoid traffic jams (that's one of the zillion reasons why traffic engineering exists lol). It's completely different from having the streets shut all of a sudden. Also, they could also have denied the permission if they considered the event might cause too much trouble even if planned beforehand. People can't "steal" the city public space all to themselves, even if for a moment, without that city consenting so. In my country, you'd need the city's representative -the mayor- permission in order to do something like that, because it would sorta mean that that city's population is in agreement with the event and any consequences it might bring.

On a side note:

I know it's not Japan, but in my country, which is democratic, you need the mayor's permission in order to make any great changes in houses and buildings, because they have to file a report about the public safety of what's going to be constructed and then allow or refute it. People mistake democracy with freedom. They aren't synonyms. A 100% free "Heartplace lyrics-like" person would be free to make crimes or whatever they'd like to do, which would hurt democracy.

I pretty much agree with everything said here. couldn't have put it in a better way :yes

I agree with half of the things you and Impackbreaker said.
First since what she said is translated from 3 languages it could be lost in translation.
Secondly if this is what she said she was sure that the permission was given.
It's not in her own responsibility to ask for it. Accroding to what she said she most likely told that there was a given permission and was instructed to go to that event normally. That's why the blame shouldn't go to her. Her job was to simply go there a promote it, asking for permission is a staff of her company job and to make sure it's given.
That's why I don't jump to disagree with what she said.

I agree with the safety of the people is the most important thing in the whole issue. Still, we can't blame it on her. She did her job going to promote the book and as she said in the statement she was noticed that there was a permission and that she could go normally (things were taken care of) and to go there normally. If there wasn't a permission it was the company's responsibility to cancel the whole event because the permission wasn't given.
It's not ok at all to threat safety of others, but it's not her fault and I don't think the statement is that unresponsible sounding. She did say she was told things were taken care of in that matter, and she herself shouldn't ask for the permission and be responsible for those issues, it's not her job.
You could say she was kind of "decieved" while she wasn't literally.

I don't know why but this whole thing kinda' made me laugh :S

People should keep in mind that she isn't the one who was responsible for the event's organization, it's not Ayu who has made a mistake. As Tal said, her job was simply to appear on that stage.

the one day i'm not in shibuya is the day she shows up. i am an idiot.

Amen to that :yes

Ditto, you're right!

police must be bored, now they have something to do and play with...

Who are they kidding? It's obvious that it's a ploy to get a lot of money off from avex. It's funny how they had to think over it for almost a month to take action. My bet is that now they are blowing it out of proportion to milk avex.

On the other hand her management team seems to be more than incompetent. They should have planned ahead and given a heads up to the authorities in order to avoid all this stupid drama. Additionally this is something they should have taken care of, rather than Ayu. Otherwise why should she have a management team? So they look pretty in the offshot clips? It's not like Ayu can deal with these arrangements when her schedule is that busy.

I'm afraid Ayu's staff or her so called "friends" who are supposed to help her in her work will lead her to her downfall. They're too busy to shove themselves in the spotlight and in return they keep doing these dumb mistakes. Hope this serves as a wake up call. Something tells me she needs to change half of her staff.

another scandal for her ! i don't know she's right or not ! but it'll definitely affect her popularity that makes me sad ~~!

amen
:yes

I think basically everyone is responsible for what happened, her staff, management, vivi and ayu included. It's not like ayu is a six year old girl and has no idea what is going on. I mean, we're talking about ayu, the gal who has a really tight control of her career, so saying she is not responsible is ridiculous. Like i said before, normal rules cannot apply to ayu because she is a celebrity. she should be able to walk normally like an average person, that's true, but unfortunately, when this happens, it's very likely there are going to be riots because people goes nuts:

"look who is there!!! is ayu!!!!! waaaaaahhhh!!!!!!!"

Her actions definitely can cause huge consequences, for right or wrong.Her book promotion was not intended to make trouble and i understand that, but i don't think it's fair either for the people who gets late because of the masses; here the lesson to learn is to be more careful next time. :yes i think that's what ayu must explain and everthing is gonna be ok :yes


:roflmao LOL!!!!!

anyway, guys, don't get mad because ayu is not going to jail... the mere idea looks ridiculous to me :laugh everything is going to be fine, in my opinion ;)

Again, I think this is being blown out of proportion even moreso by the fans than by the media in Japan. I mean, people are making a big deal out of Ayu saying that she should walk where she feels she should. That's just how she is. She's always been the type to say that, and if she'd just said: "Okay okay, I did something wrong, it's totally my fault, etc." I don't think that'd feel right since that's not "Ayu". It simply isn't her to be submissive or whatever when she knows that she's the one ~in the right~.

It's just rather sad that some of you are blasting Ayu for 'acting like a child' when she's just acting the way she always acts.

Perhaps this was the goal of whoever started this news story up. To get one side of people super pissed at Ayu for no reason whatsoever and one side really defensive. Well, looks like they succeeded...

Also; it's rather weird that when the 8,000 people appeared a month+ ago, people didn't really think much of what happened, and then now that the police are involved, some people are all up in arms like Ayu committed some sort of offensive crime. Do you call being a celebrity a crime or something? If so, there'd be like thousands of people in jail right now, haha.

I do find it strange that 8,000 people seemed to materialize from nowhere though. Ayu always goes out with her security to go on the shinkansen and stuff, and there's always a small group of people waiting, but 8,000? I wonder if it was just people acting on their human nature of ~crowding~.

It seems like some people took the "I should be allowed to move where I want, without having to submit an application specifically for this" comment as "I should be able to do anything I want regardless of others." And I really don't even think that's what she meant at all. If she thought they had permission, then she probably didn't think that she personally had to submit an application to be there.

I completely agree. Remember for Sept 11, she said she would apologize for the way she lived up until then, and a song is born was the only thing she could offer. She doesnt apologize for her life, she doesnt have to.

I find it sad that these people who watches Ayu through computer screens or television screens for entertainmment, feel they have the to treat her like a second rate citizen, and ask her to give up her rights of free will.
Just because she entertains you, she has to give up the rights and freedoms awarded to her as a human being and entertain you?? They sound just like the Avex scandals, when she was being forced around. This is exactly what she wanted to portray in Alterna pv.

People forget that she has always said that she doesnt care about being famous, or being a fashion leader, that she didn't set out to be one. She wears what she wants, that's it. So these people who call her diva, etc. Maybe you should learn a bit more about her.

She has also said that she knows one day her fame will go out, especially in song lyrics of vogue.. but people forget that.

I stand by my sentence in which I said, she should not apologize for exercising her right of freedom for walking in Shibuya and going into stores. I again ask you to step into her shoes, and restrict yourself from going to your favorite places for so many months, and see how you could survive.

The event could not just have been spontaneous; they had a canvas and stage area set up; It was the responsibility of her PR managers and Shibuya 109 mall, since Shibya 109 was the place of the event, and must have been authorized by the mall. It was not Ayumi's responsibility, since she specifically has PR managers and assistants for this reason, and paying them. Have some common sense, Ayumi cannot do everything, and is not expected to do everything. Ayumi was there for 3 minutes, not an extended period of time.

And yeah, it is so interesting how one month ago, everyone was so happy that this happened, and now, most people on this board are saying how stupid or how immature she is.

Maybe you should reevaluate who the immature person is.

ayu is to rich and famous to go to jail.... this is all going to blow over

http://img14.imageshack.us/img14/824...6224326875.jpg

Just to flashback.

Look back at the thread here:
http://www.ahsforum.com/forum/showth...hlight=shibuya

No one really gave a hoot, haha.

^Lulz yeah. It's like those police men suddenly got a revelation: "hmm...I see something seriously wrong here". Lolol.

"Hey, we haven't had a big news story in a while since Kusanagi's stripping..

Hey, that Hamasaki girl did something a month ago. Let's investigate."

-SCANDAL-

Hahahahaha! I love your comments truehappiness :laugh They are always so unique ^^

ayu was never being forced around by avex. Fans often blows those out of proportion far more than it really is. :If her condition at avex was "so bad" she would have quitted it a long time ago (if she really has all the independency people claim she has). :yes And paradoxally enough, avex is the one to record, print, publish and sell her "protests" against them. Doesn't it sound at least a little bit suspicious?:laugh

With replies like the one she gaves in this incident, I now know why she says that. :yes I'm just kidding here, but well, quoting old lyrics really makes a lot of sense, specially since ayu has changed her point of views about her career quite a lot as she progressed through it. Also, what she said about her fame is really cliche nas jsut stating the obvious. It's like saying I'll die someday...like 'duh':thud


Can you stop saying random innacurate things when you don't even check things properly? Check that old thread...Is there any post from me cheering there? No. I didn't even post on it. So don't say people who are not praising ayu for this, just because we don't lick ayu's boots were necessarily cheering for her a month ago. And about those who cheered for her back then and have a different opinion now, well, people can change opinions. That can actually be a sign of maturity, being able to review something and take new conclusions from it. However, not being able to read other people's opinion, and instead of refuting them with different ideas, you start turning it to personal attacks like you are starting to do, now that is a sign of immaturity :yes In the previous thread, it wasn't clear that her appearance caused problems, and also there was no way for anyone to know whether she took a permission or not to draw a riot like that.


And people keep on bringing the subject about "why is it happening one month after?". Looks like people have forgotten what investigating means. Specially since that word is in the title of this thread. :yes The event is over now, so the police can take their sweet time to check things more accurately. It's no like ayumi killed someone and immediately needs to be taken away from society. This matter can be properly investigated and sentences can be drawn after a while because there's no emergency about it. I'm actually glad the police is taking their sweet time for this. It's better to have a well thought sentence than have then quickly reaching a conclusion and unfairly sentencing someone who wasn't guilty on this. Maybe ayu won't even be blamed for anything after this investigation ends and they reach their conclusions..who knows.

TOTALLY agree : ) ~! I know huh :laugh Its not like they're going to imprison ayu or anything. Its too small of a matter and its not like anything has happened to her lately, its still in investigation isnt it? XD

^ I know impact. I didn't even post in the other post either. And to read that is kind of offensive. I mean seriously... Calling us immature because we have a different opinion? :S

And seriously I think its obvious she wants to be a fashion leader and famous... I think thats kind of bluntly lying there haha. I mean I don't want to make comparisons but the way Hikki or ayaka dresses and acts is the reason why no1 considers them a queen, diva or anything. lol Thats not caring XD. When did she say all this anyways? :S I really don't remember her saying this. I only know she said she didn't want to be a product. I'm not saying its a bad thing that she cares, but I think its obvious she cares. And plus its cool that she cares, I mean she's taking her career to a whole new level by being part of the fashion scene and gather as much fame as she can. Thats how you make history :P

I agree with truehappiness, people are making a huge issue and a scandal out of nothing. No one got hurt, all is well.

seriously...god....you're like the only other person who has sense in this thread...

I just don't get the whole big discussion thing...it shouldn't make any difference...

at the end of the day, her staff gave her the green light, which was wrong.

Demure_Dusk is right, the tales of her staff's incompetence just go on and on...I don't get why she keeps these people on her team when none of them can do their jobs right.

when will we know what is her jugement ?

i agree. best post in this thread

Not the best.

There are others.

And STILL making a mountain out of a molehill, I see.

It's so easy to get lost inside
A problem that seems so big at the time
It's like a river that's so wide it swallows you whole
While you're sitting around thinking about what you can't change
And worrying about all the wrong things
Time's flying by, moving so fast
You better make it count cause you can't get it back
Sometimes that mountain you've been climbing
Is just a grain of sand
And what you've been out there searching for forever
Is in your hands
Oh, and when you figure out love is all that matters after all
It sure makes everything else seem
So small
--So Small

Lol ImpactBreaker you make some good points in your last post, but does it honestly take more than 1 month to find out if she didn't obtain a permit for the event, or if there was serious trouble caused by her appearance on the streets of Shibuya? According to the articles I've read it's only now being sent to the prosecutor's office for "further investigation". It's like we've only broken the tip of the iceberg, one month after the fact. I'm not a police man or investigator but my common sense tells me it doesn't take all that long to find out if you had clearance for something...especially if you are the Metropolitan police with a wealth of resources at your disposal. Maybe this is me just hastily assuming things but basically, you'd go to the person who authorizes such things and ask them: "Did she or did she not have permission to walk the streets of Shibuya, causing a big riot?" It's a yes or no answer for crying out loud. This is, in my opinion, something pretty clear cut. Then you look at that picture truehappiness posted and it's not hard to put two and two together.

"How many people does it take to screw in a lightbulb?"

Well, in this case, how many days does it take for the TMP to figure out something was wrong that day with all that media coverage clearly illustrating it? And the answer is too long... I guess they had more important things to do, such as going after real wrongdoers. In that case, why even bother turning this into a whole big ordeal? Fine her an exorbitant amount of money and be done with it. They're making it seem like she committed some sort of heinous deed with "she has to go through the whole legal process!" for blocking the roads for a couple of hours. These jokers are wasting their time and resources.

Also, this is kind of taking it too far but shouldn't some of the blame fall on the fans for crowding those streets? I mean Ayu's appearance obviously instigated this but if those fans were never there, I'm pretty confident she wouldn't be in this legal mess right about now. She can't help that other people want to see her can she?

^ Your totally right!!!

I'm not sure how justice in Japan works, but in here, for something that isn't an emergency, the justice often sets a couple of days for some things to be settled before the judgement take its course, specially when an investigation is under course. I recently have received an intimation because someone had gone to the justice saying that they were unfairly dissaproved in a selection in which i was part of, and I was selected. They gave me 14 days to show a reply to justice. In the meanwhile, the process was not taking its course. The whole thing happened over 5 months ago, and this guy went to justice 4 mionths ago, and it even has a sort of emergency character. If I didn't have come up with a reply in the 14 days, I'd lose my chance of defending myself. The process is still taking its course. So it amazes me to see how people want a clear resolution of something in a few days. A month isn't even that much time to start with, and when it comes to justice, it is actually a laughable short time imo. :laugh Again, i'm not sure how fast Japn's justice is, but I've often seem that jsutice often takes a while to issue prosecutions, unless it's really something very serious.

Also, the fact something is so "in your face" doesn't mean you can quickly draw conclusions from it and quickly come up with sentence specially when it's actually not too clear who's to blame on this event. Also, as I think some people ahve already stated, the fact this has taken some time or just because it was ayu doesn't mean this shouldn't go through a legal process. :shrug

And about blaming the people for crowding the street: they weren't the ones who started the event in the first place. It's really easy to blame the consequences rather than the cause of a problem. :yes

did i state that it was her sole responsibility? no. i expected her fans, supposedly at least half as intelligent as an animal like you probably believe yourself to be, to understand that such stars have managers who handle those things. and ayu should know, as well as her staff, how great of an impact her visits are to places she doesn't frequent as much as other places in Japan, so she should have the idea that perhaps, at least have something written down for the record that whatever damages and/or difficulties that concur during the event, who would be responsible, whether it states the city or Ayu's staff. even normal people do this. i'm sure we all trust Ayu is professional in her public activities, but despite the media exaggeration, she isn't totally a saint here. she does need to offer some kind of compensation, but i don't believe, however, that she needs to give an apology.

it's not the fact that calling in special protection and treatment for her coming is diva-ish, but consider that, as i mentioned, even normal people need some kind of written statement to protect themselves in cases like this if they should hold any kind of event, big or small. she knows how impactful her presence is, so she should've had at least a thought that "hmm, maybe i should keep this store jumpin short to avoid any potential problems for my fans and the area". i love Ayu to death, but i can see that she isn't a complete saint. i'm not saying it's ok that she's being blamed. i'm implying that if she knows who she is and her staff knows who she is, her staff should know that, to be professional, they should at least sought for some kind of written protection as, for someone like Ayu, these things are obviously inevitable.

Yeah, it's pretty much official.

This was made to split Ayu fans between those who don't give a hoot really, and those that care about what kind of parachute pants she's wearing on some given day.

-sigh-

Why does it have to come to this?

They ask me
"Do you go with the flow or want to stop it?"
"Do you turn a blind eye
Or aren't you even looking?"
"Are you fighting
Or raising the white flag?"
It's no time
To play a victim and escape
You see? We and this world have no sign of slowing down
If the acceleration just increase this way ...
Is it because I've become strong
That I can be without tears
Or ... ?

Now, let's stand up without fear
For the sake of no one else
And rip off the masks
With our own hands

However far I escape, I can't have a clean escape
How far does my past chase after me ?
I wonder if my past will catch up with
And pass me before long
Forgive me that I don't tell this to you

This is just ridiculous, so now she has to ask for permission to walk on the road, that's like I have to ask my parents if I can drink some water!! I don't see anyone else who has to be prosecuted just because they were walking on the road and had a bunch of people chasing after them, do I? This is literally the most stupid thing I have ever heard or seen. Why make such a fuss about it?? I am disappointed at the police, have they not got anything better to do??:no

It must be hard being Ayu, it sounds like it is a lot of trouble, it must be hard for Ayu...

but Ayu will stay strong and fight, I am sure everything will turn out fine:yes

GOOD LUCK to Ayu

:rofl

Well, I think people aren't being very fair tbh.
No matter how tight Ayumi Hamasaki controls her artistry, she's still just one person. A very hard working and a very fagged person.
Are we forgetting that she probably still suffers with anaemia? Are we forgetting she probably gets disorientated from having just one ear?
I think we're losing the sight of Ayu just because we can't accept that she's not as strong as we think she is, sure she's not as weak as we think either.

But seriously it's not her job to get permits. It was her job to walk up to that stand in Shibuya and promote her book. Before the event she could do as she pleases. As people have mentioned before me, Japan is a democratic country, not an authoritarian dictatorship.
If Ayu wanted to go to some music stores before, or even after the event she was quite within her rights to.

She has human rights, just like you do. A lot of people on here would be *****ing if they couldn't go into a shop they wanted to.
It's not a matter of whether or not she's famous. In London celebrities walk around freely all the time. Ayumi should be able to walk around Shibuya, Harajuku, Ueno, anywhere freely. ¬_¬

I can understand what you're saying here but I don't think that ayu can always be held responsible for what her fans do. The fans aren't dumb. I'm sure they realized that they were standing in the middle of or crowding a street because they oh so badly wanted to see ayu. If I was following ayu around in hopes to get her autograph and I ended up blocking the way of say an ambulance driving by, I would know that and see it as my fault. I was the one in the way and it's not like ayu told me to stand there.

I mean if a fight were to break out in the middle of a crowd trying to see ayu and some people got seriously injured, would they blame ayu too? Because it was her event, or cause her security should've been tighter, or just cause this is the effect that her popularity can have on people?

^ exactly..
all and all, it's the fans/crowd who are there to block the way..
even though (if) Ayu already asked for permission to use the area..still~~ the fans/crowd won't obey you!! they will just find a way just to see the celebrity they like/love..
it's always been like that~~ seriously..

since the article said that Ayu didn't ask permission to visit the cd stores (the road around that area), that's just so wrong (the police)... because she went to the cd stores before the event, i believe ViVi/avex/ayu already asked for permission to use Shibuya area for promotion... i don't think they didn't ask for it... as for walking around, i don't think she needed permission since she just paid a short visit to the cd stores and not for holding NEXT LEVEL promotion event there~~ She IS wrong if she did the NEXT LEVEL promotion on that area but not asking for permission..

Agreed on all counts with both of you. While I do think Ayu should have made sure that her management team attained the permission (and I'm not arguing on whether she committed the violation. She did, and if they decide to fine her, so be it), this incident doesn't make her management team look that competent.

Also am I the only one who thinks there's not context behind the Ayu quote in the FRIDAY article? granted, I'm pretty tired right now, but I dunno, the article seems to exaggerate the small details while being vague on the actual story.

put her i prison, and her fans start chaos in the prison, then blame ayu for that and put her in prison longer LOL

Some can argue the fans may have some fault. That is not the case. They didn't start the event and they were meant to be there and rightfully so. Also if Ayu wants to spontaneously go to other parts of the neighborhood, it is reasonable for the fans to believe it's okay to follow her there. That's not the fans fault. How would they know it's not ok?

The problem is the scope of the event and they didn't get all the permission they need. The area where the event took place was fine, no one is accusing Ayu or Avex wrong here. But if they wanted to go to a place next to it and use the roads, they should have said so or at least took that into consideration first when planning about this.

No, this situation has a particular safety risk. That's the difference. Celebrities walking around just need to be more careful in what they do. The roadblocks can cause delays in case of an emergency (police, medics, firemen, etc.) and sometimes theft rates rises in these situations. And how ridiculous this sound, some people stomp on other people without realizing it, let alone push each other. Thus, getting permission is not only a responsibilty but a necessity to better control the situation properly.

Also to be more clear, they already got permission, just not the the areas surrounding it. So yes, they ask for permission but they didn't realized they needed more.


No, the media is making this a big deal, not the fans. This should only be on entertainment news, not the normal news and newspapers. The fans are just being fans and like to talk about their favorite celebrities, so there's nothing unusual or "out of proportion" about what the fans say. That's no different from talking about their favorite songs in detail.

Calling someone immature here and implying we don't have common sense does not make your argument anymore valid and is unnecessary. This is not about us, it's about Ayu.

Again, this is not about rights. No one is accusing her that she does not have the right to do things like any other person. Yes you're right, but that is besides the point and it doesn't make her any less at fault (and yes, others are at fault too, still not making her less at fault).

And she does has that responsibilty. She is an adult and can think for herself, so blaming others does not make her any less at fault. This whole scenario would have been a lot different if there was some kind of emergency where the police, medical personel, firemen, etc. couldn't be at a certain place on time. That was an unforeseen risk by Ayu, and fortunately nothing happened so we can all laugh this off.

But suppose something did happened and a house caught on fire or someone bleed to death or someone got robbed. No one is going to say that she had the right to do whatever she wants. That's still not going to be the topic. Instead, it's still going to be about her responsibilty to plan things properly, especially when she is not new to these procedures. That's my point. I don't care about her rights. Everyone knows it. I care about safety. The event was not planned well nor it was done properly. That's why there's a fine. If she wants to walk around promoting herself in areas where she did not get permission (they got permssion but not all the areas were accounted for, which should have), she should just say so. That way there's better preparation for fan control and road control.

If I were a celebrity, it would be very frustrating for me if I were to walk around in public knowing there will be many fans surrounding me. But since I know that, I will be considerate of many possibilities. I don't want someone not being able to go to the hospital on time because of me. At the same time, if I were a celebrity for ten years, I will eventually overlook that, like what Ayu did. The only difference is that I would have acknowledge my responsibility when I made an unintended mistake and it's nothing to be ashamed of.

Overall, like I said before, this whole thing shouldn't be on the news unless its entertainment news. Traffic violations are broken all the time and the media just need to use a celebrity as their focus rather than more serious issues that the media could have covered. It's just a traffic violation and nothing really happened. But I will still say Ayu should have known better when she wanted to go around shopping right after a huge event, which in itself was perfectly fine.

She went before, as an FYI. The people all gathered around when the event started. I don't know what she did after though..

Yeah whatever, like Shibuya doesn't have frikkin 8000 people in it anyway on a given day. :rolleyes

So slap her with a fine and get over it. She can pay it off with the money stuck between her couch cushions.

Or even better, she can use some of her 2000yen bill-toilet-paper.

When I read the thread title I was like "O_o!???", but now I'm like "LOL". I don't even have more to write about it. Did it really took them a month to notice the caused "trouble"?

This IS a big deal. The picture looked like the crowd was on the road. What if someone desperately needed an ambulance or police?

^Oh yeah, OK. Didn't think about that. Now that would be serious.

It would be, but that could be said of any obstruction of traffic.

I'm tired of talking about this. -yawn-

this is absolutely ridiculous

then you don't have to post in this thread :D


and impactbreaker you make some of the best points, srsly. two thumbs up

People interpret it different ways, but considering the type of person Ayu is, I don't think she means it as selfishly as others do. I mean if she honestly was that type of person, we would have riot in the streets constantly, don't ya think?

And yeah her staff has been slacking BIG time lately... I hope this incident makes her realize such and she acts accordingly.

Well, the basis of the police's charges against her is that she has caused some sort of traffic disorder, am I right?

Well, then, that is true since 8000 fans did follow her around and causing like real big road destruction...

But again, we're not Ayu, neither are we in her management team, so we don't know how they operate and all that.

What I see now, is that Ayu went for the event and all that because she trusted her management and knew they would settle things for her (which is their job, btw)... but apparently they suck and are incompetent, which leads us to this. :(

All I can say is that Ayu is obviously at some fault here, since it's her and not say, Mama Mika (or however you call her) that created that 8000 crowd to cause traffic disorder.

But again, I don't know why the police, or rather, the media has to blow it up so big... when I don't know, it's not like someone died because of this. Sure, she's in the wrong too, but... to blow it up to such an extent? Sorry, I don't think it's really appropriate. You should know this can be easily settled with a police letter sent to avex, explaining the problem, and asking for a fine. There's really no necessity to report this in the news or whatever.

And also... her management... ugh. And I thought Shimomura was the most useless person to stick by Ayu ever.

Update: From TeamAyu:

"According to some news organizations, there was an recent event which included Ayumi Hamasaki in a negative way. However, Ayumi Hamasaki was not involved in the planning and managment of the event, and will not be prosecuted for the incident. We regret the concern caused to all the fans of Ayumi Hamasaki, we urge you to understand this situation." - The office of Team Ayu.

:vbhappy

^ Thank you Maxker ^^

Well, it's even more sure now that it's her management's problem...I'm quite sure one of them is gonna be fired then lol.

lol there's people wondering where the error is in all this... Anyone can go anywhere, but for ayu is simply not safe without prior arrangements. Can't believe her staff just said okay go ahead. If she randomly popped up at my university, everyone'd totally flip out, squee, make pics, hold her hands, hug her and whatnot. She'd be totally harrassed!

Of coarse the office of Team Ayu needs to save her public image. I would say the same thing and they will try to focus the blame on other people. Though I'm glad she will not be prosecuted, but it is really an unintended consequence of her actions. She's an adult and already been through these kind of procedures before, so placing full blame on someone else is just wrong and I don't want to see anyone get fired.

Now I wonder if her book sold more since it was pretty much advertised on major news networks and newspapers. OMG maybe it's a conspiracy!!!

Now you're just making up excuses for what you said before. Sad.

But still, -yawn-.

I'm sorry, but I DO NOT think that it's up to Ayu to get the applications for this kind of event, it's up to her PR/Management team to do that sort of thing. So I am glad to hear Ayu herself is not going to be involved in this. She really does need to get better people on her team, if things like this keep happening.

Since you like to call them that, these "excuses" are the same as I said before. I said nothing new. Reread what I said, it's the same thing. And why do you say that like you don't want me to care about Ayu's image? Also, I rather have you talk about what I said, not at me personally.

If they're apologizing, it proves that the police is right in investigating this incident and trying to find whoever was to be blamed on this. The lack of planning could even have put ayu's life in danger, so it surprises me how fans get so touchy over the subject, thinking this was something to be overlooked. The police is not the one blowing this out of proportion, they're just investigating the matter because it indeed caused an issue. The media and ayu's sensitive fans are the ones blowing this out of proportion, the first by putting it stamped all over (but then, really, she's a celebrity so it's expected that media can work like a double edged knife), and the latter by saying this is being taking too far. ayu's reply was also sort of inconsiderate and up to misinterpretation, egoistically disdaining a public interest decision as if her egoistical needs are more important than other people's rights. She should be more careful before making public speeches (she has a brain after all and shouldn't let her diva moments get all control of her vocal chords), or else she might hurt her career like koda kumi did. Oh but "that's how ayu is", yeah, but that's how koda was, and now she can barely sell a spoon with her name (before that, all >35 yo women were naming their babies "kuu" :laugh)

Because this has nothing to do with Ayu's image really. Anyone in Japan got information on what people are feeling?

"Eh? Who cares!?"

I wonder what FRIDAY's source is since, Ayu probably knows better than to speak directly with one of the most infamous tabloids ever. Out of context maybe?

All I know is that no matter how much you say that this is going to affect Ayu/how much Ayu is wrong, it's not going to make it true.

^ exactly. She didn't do anything which could hurt her image in any way. And why are people still discussing this matter? The TA msg should be more than enough to prove that the woman didn't do anything wrong nor for that matter offended anyone in any way.

thanks for the news!
:yatta:shimmy:syesyes:bshake
this was all so ridiculous!

Well, first, this whole issue brings a negative light over "ayumi hamasaki". You can't say I'm wrong here, because that's EXACTLY what the Team Ayu management is doing, saying that ayu is not to be blamed on this "negative" issue, otherwoiise they would have just shut up and let this isuue die. The tabloids pick this negative news and add hamasaki ayumi's name. The casual reader could just associate ayu with the negative event, even if the fault was from her management (and the reason why they're sweating now to take ayu's name out of it, because they don't want to get her name stained). And then she doesn't help much, saying whatever she wants, questioning the police decision saying she is free to do anything she wants. Maybe this wont really hurt her image much, but she should be more careful next time. Verbal diarrhea doesn't match a person who has a strong public image.

Which is why I suspect that the FRIDAY publication took her words out of context. They're a tabloid! Anything to sell papers. Ruining people's lives especially.

But meh. In the long run, this really doesn't matter. Just like how the ~disabled audience member who was really Ayu's friend~ story "hurt her image" but really it was load of bull.

The TA message is proof that it's the other way around, otherwise that message wouldn't exist. It is about her image. That's why the media is picking up on this and making it into a big deal (which it shouldn't). I'm not talking about the tabloids either, I'm talking about the normal news and newspapers. The media will make controversy out of anything especially when a celebrity is involved.

For the case of Ayu, I know she does not mean any harm, but she should be more professional when talking in public because it not only effects herself, but her company and others as well. If it's just about herself, that's fine I'd prefer her to say anything she wants. But if it involves others, she has a greater responsibility. Either way, I wish Ayu the best.

The TA message is them acknowledging this. What do you expect them to do? Not post something? In any case, anything they do is lose-lose in your scenario.. -sigh-

Like I said, probably out of context. FRIDAY needs juicy materials. I don't even get how they got the ~interview~ with Ayu..

It is only natural that they admit they should've payed more attention to organizing the event. People here are making bigger deal out of this than the Japanese medias, what she said will not hurt her image in any way (considering many here thought Rule x DBE would ruin her it's safe to say that this won't). She didn't offend anyone nor had shown any kind of disrespect. So I can't see how possibly can this hurt her image.

Yes, it is a lose-lose scenario. It's that way because her image been "tainted" already. And I expect them to continue doing what they doing knowing they will be criticized for it. But that's their best option.

Yes, the media is out of context. That doesn't make Ayu any more better off (I'm just saying Ayu should know better when handling this situation). But yes, a lot of us are saying that the media is making a simple scenario controversial because she is a celebrity. That's one of the first things I've pointed out before.

But what if they were asking her about causing people to get excited by going to record stores? There's no way to 100% know if FRIDAY was being ~truthful~ in their reporting.

Please. Her image is about as tainted as when that "handicapped" audience member was 'told to stand up'. Meh, Ayu probably doesn't have much to say about this because it's quite RIDONKULOUS. It's lose-lose in your scenario because no matter what happens, you're the one who is "right".

What do people expect her to do? Have a teary apology for taking a stroll?

That's why I like Ayu, she does not do that. Though that's not why her image is at stake, it's because, like many other humans, she can be shallow. She didn't seem to recognize the safety issues involved. To many of us, her image is great. I think so. But I'm worried that the media will influence some people to view Ayu in a negative way.

lmao ia. :roflmao

I don't think we even know how Japan feels about this. Perhaps someone can enlighten us on whether or not people give a hoot?