I think it's quite possible that she smokes a little. It would be in keeping with her self-proclaimed attitude, that she lives in the moment. (I think she mentioned it in one of the two articles on Masa's page? It's where she says if she wakes up one morning and feels like dancing, she'll do it. This is an old quote, but I think the sentiment is fundamental enough that she probably carries it to this day...) I'm sure there are moments when she feels weighed down by stress, and that smoking might make her feel better. On the flip side, I think another part of her, the part that takes care of her prettiness, checks herself so that she doesn't smoke very much.

Thus, if she does indeed smoke, I don't it's a big enough part of her life to warrant calling anything "hiding." It's not enough to differentiate between the public image and the private person by its own merit alone. If everyone knew that she smoked a little bit, I doubt people would think badly of her for it. I'd say they'd understand her and respect her for putting so much effort into doing what she loves while NOT smoking up a storm to relieve stress, especially in a society where so many people smoke. Empathy would not be scarce.

As to her being a fake doll, I'd have to disagree to a large extent. The appearance of sincerity on stage is a major part of her appeal, isn't it? Sure you can fake looks and actions, but can you fake the look of sincerity? That is, I think the central question is whether there exists a fundamental, universal quality of sincerity. Even if it doesn't exist, I think it's unlikely that she could fake sincerity itself that well.

Her stage personality and her private personality, though different, are both facets of her personality as a whole. Despite her saying that she is a product, I don't think anyone could completely fake everything we see of her. Moreover, a lovely, sincere personality can certainly be a product. In fact, I sincerely hope that no one has that kind of deceptive ability...the thought of it disturbs me profoundly.

I wonder, does she appear to be less sincere of late? Does she have to spit out a line of profound philosophy every so often to reassure the world that her mind and heart haven't been reduced to a hollow log? She's proven how profound she can be; I don't think that's something that's going anywhere. Besides, she said she's a spur of the moment kinda girl...

Call me gullible, but I think we're seeing the real deal here.

Still, does the general Japanese public think she's a fake doll? Do people really see her as some kind of "make-up monster"? (Doesn't she pull off make-up exceptionally well, though?) If that's the case, then I throw my hands up in consternation.

On the other hand, there is sometimes when you felt too stressed and find anything to do just to release stress, and smoking is one of them... But Ayu, may think of her prettiness before she smokes... In my opinion after reading this, I think there is a high possibility that she doesn't smoke..

I can see that she is that kind of innocent looking, image-loving kind of lady... She knows that if she smokes, those points on her are gone... I'm not saying that it isn't possible that she doesn't smoke but it is just quite low

I wouldn't think so. The majority of the women, at least in Tokyo, do wear excessive amounts of make-up. Ayus make-up for photoshoots is created by proffessionals though, and therefore look the way it does, almost unaturally good.

Even if she is a smoker it's very possible she isn't hiding it, it might just be that she doesn't walk around telling people that she smokes. If you were a smoker, would you tell everyone you met, "I'm a smoker, only so that you know"? She's probably quite careful though, because it would (and it has happened) create tabliods immediately if she was caught on picture. I don't think it'd be any serious blow to her career if she was "revealed to be a smoker". Ayu isn't moving around in the open very much, she might smoke a lot, only just not when we see her (on stage/tv).

Yeah, anything's possible really... I just felt like I had to find some sort of a personal opinion after following this winding thread. I tried my best to reason things through and come up with what I thought was the most probable scenario.

Yeah, I think what you wrote is very relevant, and the winding-ness of this thread really proves how much we know - nothing. Speculating is fun though :).

I'm very anti-smoking, I'd be happier if Ayu is not a smoker (I'd be happier if anyone was not a smoker), but it's nothing that'd bother me.

Yeah, I'm anti-smoking too. I'm sure smoking and drinking didn't help prevent my dad's colon cancer. I've always thought smoking was seriously self-destructive, so much more so than the little self-destructive things we do everyday. That was why it shocked me to hear that Ayu might smoke. I care about her, y'know? lol

I bolded one word in your quote and take a look at it..

Btw, I don't like the smell of cigarette... It just smells so bad and I hate smoke.. my friend (he is 19 now) smokes and the smoke... OH! *faints*

Hey, English isn't my first language and typing 2,355 perfect posts isn't the easiest thing :D.

The mistake is a bit funny though, ironic :P.

Everyone can make typo or grammar error, I am sure I make a lot in english and also in my language loooolz

yeah errors are unavoidable since we are all humans... but back to the topic, i personally would also be that little bit happier if ayu doesnt smoke... maybe its just me but girls that smoke turns me off...

btw i think its important to emphasize the fact that all of us know NOTHING about whether ayu somkes or not... as i was going through this thread, i came across some who were pretty concerned about this issue and wanted to know the "truth"... therefore i would like to point out that everything here are just pure speculation and opinions of others... people should not be misled into thinking she smokes or she doesnt, cos nobody has a clue about the "truth"...

and unless you actually know ayu, there is no way to find out whether she smokes or not... this issue will forever remain unresolved...

Before she took the hiatus for her pregnancy, I remember her live performances being very shriekey and a bit hard on the ears.

I can't stand listening to much of her newer music anymore just because of how often she cracks or will downkey the note to this pathetic, little wimpy noise. For the beginning, "Oooohhh~" in All Hands Together the first thing that popped in my mind was how many times that had to have her rerecord that first note due to cracking/phlegm/etc. I stopped singing due to my nerves and with all the mistakes I did hear played back to me you could tell I was nervous and it wasn't confusable with smoking in the least. Only once when I had to perform when I was sick did it sound anything remotely like what Mika does. I did like Sugar Cat however because she didn't strain her voice and aside from that, had a cute fluffy kitty in the PV.


Back to the topic, I'm pretty sure she(Ayumi)'s a casual smoker, but she continues to exercise her voice constantly and doesn't try ranges too far out of her reach anymore so her vocal agility shouldn't be hampered, and in my opinion hasn't been hampered for quite some time. Certainly she'll sings things in ways that are displeasing to me but not because of some technical error with her voice. When she used to strain on things like Fly High, UNITE!, etc, you hear her perform them now and she tones them down to her actual range rather than reaching too far out. Sounded painful to listen to back then. Also, compare her "iiiii" notes back then to something like her "iiii" notes in No Way to Say. Much more listenable and more suited to her voice.

Gackt always sings in one vocal "style" that is quite comfortable for his voice, and considering how much he trains his physical body, I'm certain he's in the same camp as Ayumi in concerns to keeping his vocal agility, although it's fact that he smokes as opposed to her.

if ayu only relies on sales generated by her "true" fans then she'd be broke, all top tier singers have to try and sell their music to the fickle fans. Thus if a lot of people see smoking as a negative it'd be hard to recoup the loss of sales because of that, it really has nothing to do with who her "true" fans are, being successful is all about winning the people who are on the fence.

Er, what were you replying to?

Maybe to me =P yeah, True fans are at least 2/10 of all the fans in the world...

I care about Ayu too. And smoking is self-destructive. It causes cancer and emphysema.

Gackt announced that he will try to quit smoking (I think he announced it around february). But yes, Gackt never really did things other jrockers did that stretched out his voice too much, and plus he's pretty fit.

Ayu...I dunno, I never believe the tabloids because they could be just pulling stuff out of their asses, but I don't see a significant damage to her voice over the seven years. ANd if all it did was to lower it, then it's a good thing. (I like the live perf. UNITE! now much better than the 2001 version. Just sometimes a little too high-pitched >____<

yeah something a while back i messed up, lol. meant to quote. Sorry bout that, fixed it.

cup-o-ayumismokes

Just to reply, since this was bumped anyway:

I've read that it was featured in a book that Ayu smoked at some point in time before 2001. And then she got her tinnitus [the ringing ear condition] and stopped. I don't know if it's extremely true, but the information came from a fan who has been a fan since before A BEST. And I have noticed that after 2001, Ayu's voice started to change..

Oh, and she was a rebellious teenager. It would be even weirder if she didn't smoke at all in her lifetime. It is Japan after all.

on occasion.