They don't appear because their concerts are the only oportunity to fans to see them live. But they're pretty close to JE, even their manager is from JE. Kinki Kids will never have independence from JE, because they releasing albums for over 10 years, I think.

She didn't have the biggest tour in Japan.

^mayb DeepRiver she had the biggest profit in the tour that year? i dunno, but i heard financially, her tour was pretty successful

Yes, I'm sure the tour was very succeful financially, but if she did the tour the same year as SMAP, then it wasn't the most profitable that year. Because her biggest tour was the usual Ayu arena tour schedula + Chiba Marine Stadium. Anyone who have a few concerts at Dome that year with tickets at 7,000 yens would have a bigger tour.

Is there even any contest? It would have to Ayumi Hamasaki. Her CD sales are insane, her concerts are massive (and I wouldn't be surprised if ticket sales sold out within minutes), and she endorses so many products. She's a mega-star! It has gotta be her.

^yes, there actually is a contest. they r SMAP/B'z/Hikki

Ayumi Hamasaki. I think Koda Kumi is very rich also.

i think it would e hikki, seriously she owns all rights and does most of all the production work on her songs. whenever her songs are being played she gets money for it and ayu doesnt do that... it doesnt matter so much about concerts... and hikki has been on the list for a couple of years....

She had this very very big BOHEMIAN SUMMER Tour in 2ooo. Every Ticket cost 1o.ooo Yen and were sold out in just 1 hour.

SMAP,Hikki,or ayu I guess...

It'd be Ayu (her endorsements must have made her rich like crazy, and all those single and album number ones? gotta get bonuses.)

UTADA (she's one of the few artists to own so many copyrights and such to actually get as much as an American entertainer)

or BoA because of her extensive reach throughout asia.

Morning Musume is probably the saddest groups i've ever seen. I mean, if I were Tsunku, I'd give them more. I give them credit for doing what they're doing. I love them, but the corporation are the ones that get the hugest cut, then gives the leftovers to them like an allowance most likely.

I think Ayumi... she's so popular and sells so many albums, as well as her merchandise ^^; I think Hikaru would be next, and Namie too... BoA is doing fairly well too, I think, but because China and Korea prices are lower (well, dollar is worth less) she doesn't make as much as Ayu does.

^ Really? I thought that Morning Musume would make more, since they have the Hello Project, there are soooo many people making and selling albums... they are so commercialized... ^^; But I still like them ^^;;

Yeah, Tsunku is one rich man. I think the payoffs go by generation, since they're senpai. I think Yossie would be getting maybe $100,000 a year, and Miki would probably receive more too since she was in Hello! a while too, may be $75,000. Gen. 5 may be 50K, and 6 with 30K. Koharu might be getting a little more than what she'd get if she wasn't by her self, may be 25K. But I know they make MUCH more than that. Overall, that's 480K for all the members.

It's probably Utada. As someone already said, she produces & writes all her music from home. So money that would of been spent renting out a recording studio would go straight to Hikki's pocket. I think she uses a studio just to record the final vocals and make the masters. Oh and I will scream if someone says "Oh but the record label will pay for the studio time so it doesn't matter" etc, the record label gives an artist like Utada or Ayu something like $2,000,000 to make an album & promote it. When that $2,000,000 is made back from sales and is shared between writers & producers (Utada would get most of it as she really does seem to create her albums from scratch) then the artist starts making money from the album after the people involved with the record have been paid for their work. So which is why Utada is probably the richest out of the two. Ayumi more than likely gets her money from touring and endorsements. (I know Ayu writes but she works with different producers, arrangers, etc)

I'm going to have to say Ayu..since she's been around for awhile and her popularity has been pretty steady over the course of her career.

the richest is probably the one with the biggest tours & most merchandise , since aren't all of those a bigger source of income than album sales ? commercial endorsements bring in money too. Ayu is at least among the richest.

I don't think the tax records tell the complete truth about how much the artists earn. Don't rich people usually have finacial planners & people like that employed to use all sorts of loop holes & possible tax write-offs & etc to pay the least amount of taxes possible ?

Ayu, but beside her I think it would be Utada.

actually i would say copyright fees are the biggest source of income.

must be ayu, because she has sold 44 million CDs worldwide, in addition to her concert and advertisement, a huge sum indeed =D

but don't the one who owns the songs get the copyright fees ? isn't it the record company who usually owns the songs ? It's very uncommon these days to actually own your own songs as an artist

I doubt it's Hikaru. True she outsells Ayu with each individual album release. True, she produces most of her stuff herself. However, her releasing pace is slow. I think that takes away a big part of the impact.

EDIT: why are SMAP and B'z not on the poll?