While I don't think they're divorced, just because he was seen at concerts doesn't mean anything to me. Celebrities can easily fake it just to save face or perhaps they're just on good terms and decided not to publicise it? Anything is possible in that world and Hollywood/celebrity relationships are so disposable I can never take it seriously.

Back to the article. I love how articulate she is. I keep forgetting how well spoken she is <3 Thanks for the translation :)

She said she ran away. It's believable looking at the way she treated her career that year. I don't know why everything she says has to be a lie or something.

Also, why can she not want to continue with music? Like plenty of people have money but still want to continue in their art. In the same way that many people are broke in their art and would seem better off pursuing something else but don't because they are passionate about it. Like why is it hard to believe that ayu maybe actually enjoys being musician and that it makes her happy in the meantime? And it's not like she doesn't do anything besides her career. I feel like you're just trippin over nothing tbh.

Thank you so much for translating - it was a great interview! My favourite part is when she talks about her love for music.

I agree!

well while one side of me told me so many times artists do what they do for money, there's still that factor that they are human and i still keep my hope that the main reason why they make music is because they love it. As she herself said, she could have stopped years ago. But she didn't. When you love what you do money is no longer the main goal, especially when you already have 6 digit numbers in your bank account :P

Thanks for the translation.

While I do enjoy these interviews, I do hope that this is the last time she gives an interview like this. It feels a little like she's had this discussion a few times before about "LA and Japan" and how she came to decide to come back to Japan but this one does seem like the last one, so that's good.

Exactly. It kinda feels like she's "dissing" the entire Colours era. Granted, it's not my favorite Ayu album by any means... Still, I'm glad it exists. I think a lot of the tracks are pretty solid.

The Colours era was a little shaky though. I wonder if she looks back on the output with regret at all.

Well... The PV's, yes. Absolutely horrific. The album itself is such a smooth listen, though. Probably hands down her easiest album to just throw on and jam to, without having to think too much about the content. I'm glad she has an album like this.

Considering the vast difference in Japanese and English..love is such a broad term.

Awesome translation.

Ayumi is always searching for something. And because of that, she will never be at peace. I was a little sad reading this interview, because I agree with others' posts that she has made similar comments in other interviews as well. I'm glad she at least confessed that she had been running away the last couple of years. I also know that she's trying to separate her private and public life, but, she admits to being a slave to work so of course that will spill into her private life. Perhaps she works so much because it fills a huge void in her life and if she were to quit making music, she'd have to come face to face with it. So in a way, it's like she's still running away from a huge part of herself/life.

She said she's looking for love. Seriously why did she get married?

Somehow this interview doesn't evoke a good feeling in me.
Well, now I do believe she's doing the TA tour to cater to disappointed fans or to fans left as she's more or less speficially sayig it. But really, she should do it (and her career in general), only cause she wants to do it. And not because she has a feeling she has to do it. Feelings of guilt aren"t a good reason.
I mean, hell, she's saying she's able to sacrifice her private life for music and so she will. That isn't healthy.

Thank you very much to Tenshi for translating :love

To Ayu, what's done cannot be undone and lessons learned, so let's move on and don't look back.

Sincerely hope that no more discussing about the LA/JPN-running away in search of love/something, let's talk about "future" :P

AND, World Tour please~~~~~ :love

You know AHS is a lost case when there's a meltdown over... nothing, actually. I can't even understand what is pissing people around here off right now.

insightful interview and I love it when she is so honest. She know she did something wrong and now she is back to just be herself again :)

Also good to hear that she was like "whaaaat?" when people thought cirque de minuit would be her last tour or smth lol

I love how honest she is. And i love her words too. I will forever respect her and I honestly can't forgive those who gave up on her because of her mistakes. No one is perfect. We all do wrong but she has at least the courage to admit so and start all over again. I do not need for her to be the doll ayumi hamasaki who is perfect in everything. I respect the human ayu behind the facade.

For those wondering about her love life because of that statement, flashing news: your life is not complete when you find a partner. Nor does being married means that you have everything you need and shouldnt be looking for anything else (love for and from your family, friends, work, surroundings). Love is something entirely different and entails different kinds of relationships, thankfully.