I totally agree with you. In my opinion, she is the last BIG BIG BIG female artist that Japan had. I mean, before Ayu we had Amuro, who was pretty huge then, but Ayu eclipsed her totally when taking the J-Pop crown. I really thought that Kumi would kinda get close to Ayu´s mark on the industry, but at this point, she is totally not doing it (and I love both.) Utada also had a huge potential to make it (and to make it bigger than Ayu), but her lack of releases and tours don´t make it for it. Surpassing Ayu is going to be real hard, and the only other female artist that I can recall as having as much power/significance as Ayu on her time was Seiko Matsuda.

And one more thing, I don´t really think she´s ever gonna stop or have a kid or something, at least not for now. She has all the points to become a living legend (if she isn´t already.) Namie kinda ruined it with her break off of music and her fall from grace, and Kumi totally runied it with the scandal (although I still think that both are great and important), but Ayumi has been 11 straight years in the business, most of them on the top, without stopping, with no scandals and with no faults. So congrats to her, because she´s on a very well deserved spot, even if she´s not on the list.

As for male entertainers, I´m always surprised that most of them (if not all) are part of groups. I mean, there´s not much solo male artists who stand out. (Maybe Ken Hirai). I guess groups have a much larger lifespam than individuals

I don't even know if Utada was interested in the "Queen of Jpop" thing... She is much more a musician than a diva, while her image is very anti-diva... She is like... the only of those 21st century massive female sellers that is more known for the music than for the image.... Not saying that Ayu and Namie have not good songs and aren't good musicians... But they fame is very fashion and beauty oriented at some extent... Something Hikki eliminated in the begining of her career...

Even so... I think that Namie, Hikki and Ayu are at the "legend" status right now, and that if they stoped their careers today, they alread have their names forever (or for quite a long time) in the history of japanese pop music =)

Don't think that Koda did that alread... and I don't really know if she will make it

Yeah, I agree. I'm not saying someone needs to come along and surpass Ayumi, but it would be nice to have a larger amount of successful female singers. For example, surprisingly Yamaguchi Momoe never had a number one album and only had a few number one singles. However, no one could argue her popularity or influence - it just went to show that there was really a lot of competition back then between the many top female artists.

It seems like since there has been a lack of new female artists that are great that the Japanese public can latch onto, they instead went back to Namie, at least temporarily. Also, I don't know if I'd say that Ayu "eclipsed her totally" when she took over the "crown." In terms of record sales yes (though to be fair, Ayumi released a lot more). But I remember how insanely huge Amuro was in the mid 90s - that's actually the time that I was living in Japan and even though I was a child at the time that really didn't know J-pop much at all, even I felt the influence that Namie had over the population then, especially on girls. I think it could be argued, though not scientifically proven, that Namie at her height of popularity was probably more popular than any other j-pop female at the height of theirs.

As for Utada, even though she has a lack of releases and tours and what not, she has a strange hold over Japan. Many people would actually place her in a higher status than Ayumi, though I don't agree with that.

That totally slipped my mind even though I watched the show! :) Probably because it jumps out at me as being an Arashi vehicle starring Ninomiya and they had the theme song.

not even ayumi can surpass "ayumi" anymore.. it's just the way the industry is. 2009 is a different time than a few years ago. :scry

no worries I wouldn't blame you for that cos it's more or less it's ARASHI that's getting all the good parts when comes to them singing the theme song for their members's drama shows

for NEWS's case , you seldom see that happened . The only one I can think of is Taiyou no Namida for Yamapi's Kurosagi movie & Yamapi himself sang Daite Senorita solo for the drama

other than that :(

I would kind of have to disagree. Namie never reached the level of Hibari Misora or Momoe Yamaguchi, although if we are talking about modern J-pop and not popular Japanese music then Hibari Misora wouldn't be included.

It should be Teresa Teng, by the way. And I would add globe and Miyuki Nakajima, and maybe Mariya Takeuchi and Maki Ohguro if Tomomi Kahala is there, although I think all three are debatable.

Finally, something we can agree on :)

I would say Miyuki Nakajima, Maki Ohguro, and Globe are fine. :)

And yes, Hibari Misora was insanely popular as well and is still very well regarded.

^
SunshineSLayer, + other, thanks for great posts.

I think one of the reasons ayumi has seemingly reach another status is due to the heavy online and thus overseas exposure. She's the most known japanese female pop star abroad, I don't really think there's any doubt about that.

I don't think that at the time of ayu, there was little competition among female idols/artists though, allthough I must admit I don't know that well jpop in the 80s 70s etc.

Looking back, it took som years for ayu to emerge as the number one star among the female idol/entertainers, she didn't reach that status untill maybe A BEST or I am.. at least not in the sales departement. ALlthough they weren't by avex, Ami Suzuki, Mai Kuraki, Utada Hikaru, all the girls of H!P even Rina Aiuchi and there are more I cannot remember right now that would be counted.

I don't really know what happened, but sales for most female artists plunged even more than the rest of the CD market shown by the lack of female releases in the yearly oricon. THe "generation" after these huge female sellers didn't achieve the same success (koda kumi, ai otsuka, YUI, ayaka etc) and it's basically in a rut right now.

Right, right. At the beginning of Ayu's career, there definitely was more competition. What I meant was about is what is currently going on. You could literally count the number of important female singers right now on one hand whereas in the 70s and 80s you would need several hands. :) And I think that lack of artists right now helps to explain why very few females made this list. It's unfortunate that Ayu and Koda didn't make it this year but not totally surprising either.

DAIGO is on the list but AYU and KUU are not?!?
This makes NO sense to me...
I'm appalled at whoever compiled this list.

I already wrote how this list was made - check the first post. It is not made by one person. Sometimes I think foreign forums tend to give a false impression of what is considered currently "in", in Japan. I'm sure that to those that have been in Japan recently or follow lots of variety/comedy shows and the like, DAIGO being on the list shouldn't be that big of a surprise.

DAIGO is so perfect that he deserves his place a lot xDD

jokes beside (Although his perfection is not a joke xD), Karen´s explanation gives a lot of insight of why DAIGO is so popular

LOL

nobody's perfect & that goes for DAIGO too . I sometimes WISH that he cut down in doing his trademark WISE pose , it's OK at 1st but it gets a tad annoying after that :grumpy

& thanks :cool . Maybe if DAIGO were to still keep quiet on the fact that he was the grandson of the late prime minister , I don't think he will be on this list at all

NO AYU ON #1 = WRONG LIST

as simple as that :yes

I don't think Koda Kumi will be as important as Ayu, Seiko Matsuda or Koizumi Kyoko but she definitely made her mark in Jpop history. The ero-kakoii craze, the 12 weeks 12 singles, the two impressive selling best albums, the ero-kakoii trend (something never before seen in Jpop story), the Tokyo Dome concert (which puts her alongside Speed, Namie and Ayu) and even the (rather bizarre) scandal she was involved in. In 2006, she was EVERYWHERE in Japan, the same way some of the previous queens before. No doubt she will be remembered. Her "peak" didn't last as long as some of the previous singer and she was never as huge as Ayu in 2001, Hikki in 1999-2001 and Namie Amuro in 96 but she definitely had a taste of being the Jpop queen and her short reign won't be forgotten. She definitely made a stronger impact than ayaka, Ai Otsuka and other female singers.

It's not true Utada Hikaru didn't eclipse Ayu. Both have very different carreers so it makes no sense to say she isn't bigger than Ayu because of lack of releases and tours since, in the end, Utada sales are higher to this days, she has three CDs in the Top 5 best-selling ever albums, "Prisioner of Love" and "Flavor of Life" were bigger than any Ayu single since 2002 and she is much more well regarded by the Japanese public (since she is not as active as Ayu and she still ranks very high on this list). So I think it's really unfair to say Hikki never reached Ayu since that's obviously not true and her popularity is higher.

Although I think Ayu deserves to be the "Queen of Jpop" since "pop" is very connected to the image, flashy outfits, impressive concerts and PVs and Ayu played that part, while Hikki didn't. But, in the end, I think Utada Hikaru is and was bigger in the Japanese music scene than Ayu. Even in Ayu peak, in 2001, Utada Hikaru outsold her.

I think that's fair to say, but in terms of hold on the public, Ayu had it at one time. She continued Amuro's reign on the public, starting and continuing trends that the public embraced. I think that's one major factor that Ayu lost: her fashion. Hey, it's still amazing, but if she wears a Valentino or Louis Vuitton dress, what teenager has the money or access to something like that? IMO, her fashion got a little too fantasy, and is great for the fashion scene, but not for the public to embrace.

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I think the power marriage of Ayaka and Mizushima Hiro will put Ayaka on the map again. OR it could be catastrophic and end her career since all his fangirls will hate on her forever.

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I think what everyone should realize is that this list is a HUGE sample of the population. All, if not most, of the list is full of people who have appealed to almost every generation. Ayu is a relatively youthful artist who appeals mostly to the younger generation and those around her age. Think about Amuro Namie, who's been around for over ten years, or Utada Hikaru with an unchanging style and famous parents. Then there's SMAP who's been around for 20 years (holy jesus, I saw a book with "20th anniversary" on the cover and freaked out).

I agree with you 100%.
She's unique in the J-Pop industry, you can't find an female artist like her. She's the only one who's able to pull the image of ero kawaii/ero kakkoi off.
The same with Ayu and Hikki, they're unique in their own kind of way.
But it's hard to judge all of the careers because all three are still in the industry.
It's possible that Kuu gets a hype again just like Namie did, so we can just wait and see.

That is true, but also keep in mind that Ayu did not score in the top 20 in any of the breakdowns that you would think she would do well in (females in their teens and 20s.)