I think that many of the artists around has something special to their appearances, if not they woulden't have been noticed. Ayu's features makes look sort of exotic no matter what, but she's mostly made her appearance look more western so most of us are used to seeing her being "western-looking." She's definetly not a classical japanese beauty (like shimatani hitomi f.ex). And the shape of her eyes are very special.

But if you compare her to 100% japanese people that actually look western like Ken Hirai, she definetly looks japanese.

And to those who wrote that black eyes and hair colour is a sign of that she's japanese, that's right, but the black colours are on dominant genes, so if her mother is 100% japanese and her father was caucsian, there's hardly a chance for her getting the lighter tones.

Here is my original post that evolusean is refering too: "My parents always speculate about that. (both are in the military and have been stationed in Japan at various points in their life) Being from Fukuoka, there would have been more foreigners around there durring that time than other parts of Japan - it would also explain why her father just suddenly left. Many of her features don't look typically Japanese, but really, who knows. I wouldn't completely rule her out as having mixed blood though."

So, of course I don't KNOW anything, but I do see it as a possibility which would explain a few things. If it is true, then it is possible that Ayu herself doesn't even know since she claims to not remember him and that her and her mother don't talk about him. It's also possible that her Mother is half caucasion and Ayu ended up being a genetic throwback. (Namie is 1/4 Italian that way and you can definitely see the caucasion in her.)

No one is talking about her paleness - they are referring to her features.
In Japan, it IS very odd for someones Mother to specifically want to be called "Mommy." (especially considering that this was 25+ years ago)
How? That's like saying a child who has blue eyes couldn't possibly belong to someone who has brown eyes.

@alternarist : hymph... Well case solved hahaha... Why not let's make a poll about this...

Ditto.

Just wanna add that having "big" eyes is not a Caucasian/European trait. There are lots of white people with little eyes.

It's not just her eyes though.

Actually, it would be something to be covered up. Although Japan has made great strides to be less ethnocentric, there still are prejudices against people who aren't full blooded Japanese. (I don't think this way of thinking really exists with the young generation in Japan anymore) But yes, 20-25 years ago it would have been something to hide.

Kurumi is her old STAGE name. Her only real last name has ever been Hamasaki and that is because her mother was never married. Her last name gives no indication of who her father was.

There are many names being tossed around in this thread who are half but no on is really mentioning the full Japanese blooded stars who have exceptionally strong features without the help of western genes.

Also, I think it's easy to talk yourself into something when all the facts are unknown about Ayumi's background (Partially because Ayumi doesn't talk about her past much). It reminds me of how my Filipino friend Lea's mother mentioned that she might have Chinese mix blood in her somewhere because of some feature. There's no proof whatsoever but she convinced herself of it because of certain traits.

There's always a small possibility of this mixed blood thing being true but the fact is, someone will see this thread and start spreading everything said here as "the truth". I'll bet we'll see this on wiki one day. XD

Forgot to mention, if it's all about her features, wouldn't the plastic surgery argument also be a possibility here? We're talking about her looks now, which resemble her looks as a child. That being said, she arguably looks more "western" today than back then. We're going to talk ourselves in circles because there are so many things that could account for, well, everything.

She does use many American styles, but somehow I don't think that she's half American.

You did make some excellent points there, evolusean!

Huh? I thought what evolusean said during the first post :

refers to her skin...

In fact, it IS odd but that still doesn't proves that Ayu is half american/japanese... May be the mom just like it that way?

I didn't say it is impossible... I said it is less likely...

And about the name, I'm sorry!!! I keep forgeting that Kurumi isn't ayu's real name..... :( :( :(

@devilayu : Seeing that makes me to not trust wikipedia anymore @@

Um.. since when does having blood of a certain race automatically make you interested in the country its from?? o_O.. I know lots of people who were born in Canada who have blood from India, Germany, etcetc and they dont give a crap about those places.. I don't see how even if Ayu was part caucasian she would be automatically interested in the USA just because of it..

That's what I was getting at in my original post. Even to this day, lots and lots of military guys stationed over there have Japanese girlfriends for 2-3 years and when they move to their next base, that's it. And durring that time period(70s), it was the area between Okinawa and Hiroshima that had the highest concentration of soldiers.

Ah, sorry, I was referring to MY original post, where I was mostly talking about her features, although her skin color plays a part as well. :)
Yeah, of course non of this proves anything. But it is interesting to speculate about.

He could've ment white as in "caucasian".. That's what I thought of at least, especially after reading the rest of the posts. I thought most japanese had white/pale skin..

True... I have to agree..

@SunShineSlayer : Yup, it IS interesting... And nah no need to be sorry for that... I'm the one that should be sorry... ><

@*petit* : well I guess we have to ask evolusean to be clear... ;)

You'd think if her father was a Japanese native, he would've come out of the woodwork to earn some money off of her! Maybe that's just an American thing, though...

He could be a foreigner who doesn't know Japanese popculture at all, so he doesn't know his daughter is famous! Or, like someone said before, he could have passed away. This is all really interesting! She looks 100% Japanese to me, though.

But there is no proof that she is full blooded Japanese either, since no one knows who her father is, or what her mothers lineage is and Ayumi has not said so herself. So I don't see why the possibility of her being mixed should be ruled out. :shrug:

OMG.
This must be true!! My grandfather was in the army and he was in that area at that time!! I BET AYUMI IS MY AUNT!! :O

NOW ITS TIME TO GO SHOW EVERYONE MY NEW AUNT

I think this is wayyyyy far fetched. It even sounds kinda typical for fans... You like her so much you just like to think she could be half-American or half-whatever-your-nationality-is...

Her father left her at the age of 2 -- why would that mean he was US Army guy in Fukuoka?... He could be anyone... And the "mum" thing? Oh well, US is not the only place where ppl speak English...
Her bright skin -- guess that was explained already.
Her features -- come on, Asian ppl don't look all the same. Have we seen all of them to say who fits and who doesn't?...
Her hair color -- the same, not every Japanese has to have black hair...
Liking American things -- that's another thing that surely isn't rare among young Japanese...

I know that was all just a theory, but I don't think I could agree.

let's ask ayu..
what blood she has on her! hehe :D

all i can say that..
MAKE UP technology makes all the possibilities we've been typing down here..

she looks like to an american woman because of her blonde hair and her big round eyes and the sharped/pointed nose.... (i'm kinda repeating myself here..haha :D)

well..here's another thought..
maybe ayu's grandmas and grandpas have the american or any other bloods...
because somebody said up there.. that fukuoka is the place where lots of american people staying there during the war zone..and one of ayu's grandmas and grandpas hooked up with some American guys/girls and then they got married..

because.. Japanese people are now mostly looked mix blood to me..
you know..the original japanese people do not have big round eyes or sharped nose...like most japanese people nowadays...
example: Kyoko Fukada, Kumi Koda, and others....
i saw lots of japanese artists..they have the round eyes and sharped noses..
(this is what my father told me..)

*they called the original japanese people, AINU*

^^ wtf.. this is what ainu are: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ainu_people ... where ARE you getting your information from?

Quite simply, no that is not it. And while it's not a GREAT possibility, it isn't that far fetched either because it DOES happen more often than you would think.
Of course it doesn't automatically mean that. All anyone said is that it is a possibility. You are over simplifying it in that statement.
But generally Japan is not one of those places, lol.
Of course not everyone looks exactly the same - I've lived there, so I know. BUT her features are far from being common there. (even her features as a child, not just her made up features now)
Yeah, that is definitely true. And I don't consider her using English song titles and casting caucasions in her videos as being an indication of her nationality.

Ayu has huge ears, dude. o_O