Ayu-hate in Japan?
 

...O_O

I was watching Music Station from 9.10 or 9.9 and they introduced Ayu, and it sounded fine, but then in the background were these girls.. and they clapped for everyone but Ayu when they were greeted by the hosts..

Do people really not like Ayu that much? :[

Zeo

WHen a person is so much in the media and is exposed as much as Ayumi, it's no big surprise some people start to dislike her.

noo
ayu is still famous ~~ many ppl clapped for her especially in music station ~
i hear ppl clap for her ~

from what I've heard is that Ayu doesn't have that much fans in Japan. I guess people are tired of her(she's been top of the pop for so many years, people just will get tired of the old and want something new. that's why there's always the neverending discussion of Ayu "losing her throne"). When you walk around the city, her face is pasted everywhere on the billboards, bus stations, train stations, yadda yadda yadda. You go home and turn on the radio and it's Ayu on the air. You turn on the tv and there she is again.

but I personally think, the Japanese people should be proud to have someone like Ayu-chan. :)

edit: did anyone notice how "cold" the applauding(sp?) was in the music station after Ayu's performance. come on, it was...like "yeah, okay, whatever... next song please"

You say Ayu doesn't have many fans in Japan, and yet she can still score really high places on the oricon? that doesn't sound like she doesn't have any fans anymore.

and these girls, where they like guests for the show as well? maybeh they are jealous of Ayu's success? I noticed on a video i watched of an Ayu interview this girl just sat there the whole time this really nasty scowl on her face when Ayu was being interviewed.

I said it's what I've heard. I'm not saying it's a fact.

Disliking a person doesn't always mean jealousy either.

Nanami!! Your avatar scared me a lot.. I think those girls did not clap for Ayu because their BF's are her fan. Seriously, some girls are like that.. (I'm not blaming all girls!) Plus, Ayu is still popular in japan, or she wouldnt still be number 1, right?

^Agree with that, nanami606's signature really shocked me!! I can't really figured out what is the real reason these girls did like that. Maybe they're planned to did like that....who know? Anyway, it doesn't change my love to Ayumi forever....

Yeah could be it's because of their boyfriends are all drooling over Ayu. :P who wouldn't?

What's so shocking about my avatar lol? :P

I know that disliking a person doesnt mean jealously, speaking from my self. i dislike ai otsuka, but not because i'm jealous of her. Why do you think i out "maybe" there instead of "oh they are so obviously jealous of her" i put maybeh :rolleyes

and i didn't say what you said was a fact either. because it obviously isn't.

hey, I'm not trying to bash you or anything.

I love Ayu, believe me.

hmmm, I dunt know it exactly in Japan, but abroad, ayu is absolutely the most popular Japanese star to foreign fans.

It also seems to me that alot of people in Japan dislike Ayu but also, alot of people in Japan supports Ayu. It's like a half-half situation to me. Most ayu fans seem to be male in Japan.

Maybe it like~ ... 1/2 1/2 O_o? or a little more like 5/11 to 6/11?? XD .....

just that the maybe more true fact is that it's a little less now ^^;;

and that when people hate, the go all the way do to the hate list.
when they love~ the put them in the top box. XD

I think that's how people in Japan are (no offenses or anything), coz like, when they LOVE something, it's like... OMG! in their room! XD... haha~ sometime it's rather funny/amazing/cute/etc.. ^^

What Nanami said is right, though. Of all of my Japanese friends, not one of them like Ayu. A few of them even booed when they heard I liked her! But they like the same style of music as me. Some went to A-Nation '03 to support Do As Infinity and BoA, but weren't particularly interested in Ayu.

I hate to use the stupid Britney Spears analogy, because artistically the two are nothing alike. But as far as being a pop-culture icon, they both have huge influence. At the start, everyone kind of could enjoy a Britney Spears song. She was fresh and new and cute. But in recent years it's become almost shameful to be an avid Britney Spears fan. She's just so famous that 1/3 the country hates her, 1/3 the country loves her, and the remaining 1/3 don't commit to either side.

One of my friends, cooincidentally, did like Ayu at a time. She had all her singles and albums. But she stopped after Duty. When I was in Japan, I came to see that pattern for a lot of people. The "post-I-Am..." era is when Ayu started to lose a bit of her mass-appeal and become a love-her or hate-her status artist.

Woah.. I never imagined that many people would start hating her so much..

:rolleyes LOL ayu still has so much appeal. :luv2

OMG I LOVE YOUR AVATAR! ITS SO NICE! HOW DID U DO THAT? DROOLSSS

anw. i guess the majority likes her, but the number of ppl who dislikes her starts to grow, especially with all the ugly rumours blah blah blah.

Ok lemme get this straight. You're basing your analysis on a couple of girls who didn't clap for Ayu? That's messed.

I have a friend from Japan that doesn't like Ayumi because she thinks Ayu had surgery to look more Western. :|

But oh no!! Not everyone in Japan loves Ayumi. Its funny that some find this surprising. :rolleyes

I keep wondering what would happen to the whole overseas-sales of japanese pop if ayumi quitted. Speaking for myself only, I know I woulden't buy or listen to half as many songs/artists. I don't think I would've quitted j-pop entirely, but I definetly woulden't follow it as closely as I do now. And I would definetly not buy as many CDs as I do now, because I mainly buy ayu-cds.

My ex-girlfriend (Japanese) was saying that a lot of people in Japan really don't like her anymore, but she doesn't know why since she thinks Ayu really is one of Japan's best.

ditto

And then there are the millions who have no idea who Hamasaki Ayumi is. She's just a pop singer, not the Prime Minister.

Yeah, it's not speaking anything against her talent and all that actually matters. It's just what happens with fame. You know you're really really really famous when people hate you, but they can't exactly pinpoint why.

a friend tol me he met a japanese girl that dresses very colorful and stuff (i know there is a name for that, but i can't recall it)

well, she liked amie namuro and other japanese artists, but when my friend asked her for Ayu, she put a face of "well, Ayu is there, but..."

edit

Most of the people who dislike her are females anyway...I wonder why (being a female myself I think I know why..hur) But yeah, can't expect everyone to like her since she's quite over-exposed in Japan. But I still see tonnes of Ayu fans waving their Ayu summer goods during a nation concerts. Most people still attend a nation for Ayu.

I'd equate her to Brittney Spears or something... lots of fans, but plenty who dont find her their cup of tea. Nothing wrong with that ^^ Most of the people in my Japanese class dont like her cause she's too poppy, and like visual-k or j-rock more... which I dont like :)

As said before...many of the people who don't like her are females...Ayu's just been at the top for sooooo long....for example, my band here where i live has won this competition for the last 6 years, and now EVERYONE is like determined to make us lose...i mean i saw a few schools practicing from like 10 in the morning to 7 at night, when usually everyone only practices for 3-4 hours...

it's not that Ayu's a bad singer or artist or anything, they don't even have a reason for not liking her, no matter what they say, they know she's god and they know she's the best, i think they're just tired of it.

Well Ayu rule's and Hater's suck thats all there is to it.

I was wondering when one of these threads would pop up. Ayumi around 2001 was very, very overexposed and it's no surprise that some people in Japan, even fans, started to get sick of her. While it's easy for non-Japanese residents to say, "Well, I'd LOVE to see Ayumi all over the place" it's much different when you're bombarded with her image/songs/products. The grass is always greener, as they say.

It's my understanding that the Ayumi rumors (such as the ones that appear in the HK magazines) are started by people who are annoyed by Ayumi (some are probably true, though). It'll appear on a Japanese BBS and escalate. It's not right but I see the same thing happen in any forum regarding any high-profile person.

Ayu-Hate?
That is most interesting, I have to admit, I used to loke Ayu, now I just admire her...I am sure there are many Ayu fans across Japan.

The only thing suprising is that she didn't have some kind of major backlash sooner in Japan. When you go there to visit, she is literally everywhere. On everytrain, on billboards, on your tv, on magazine stands etc. etc. So peoples dislike of her rarely has to do with her actual talent but with the fact that they just get too overloaded with images of her and naturally anyone after a period of time would get sick of it.

I guess.. but on TV, I would think you should act courteous and clap even if you hate her like mad >< I mean, NO ONE clapped. They had this look like 'Ugh, that girl again."

:[

Zeo

EDIT: Here's some photographic evidence :[

http://tinypic.com/dr8awi.jpg

Nothing special. No entertainer can be liked by everyone. No person ever is liked by everyone.

^^what crazy pictures...i think its extremely rude...whos the other girl? is that a dumb question?:)

No, seeing as she is some n00b :yes

Well, I have no idea who she is, but she's the girl after ayu in the introductions.. and reminder, they clapped for every. single. person. after. ayu. :[

zeo

grrr those girls are so ungrateful!! If you're sick of the person or not, show some respect please if you're gonna be broadcasted live! It's just being curtious x_x. Or maybe they're even more angrier since they got NOTHIN' on ayu xD.

It's Yuna Ito I believe, right?..

Those girls in the audience are just fugly and wish they looked like Ayu. Ayu's probably still popular with the kogals.

fugly??? haha

No... the girl's name is like Mizu..something. :X

My english teacher once said that:

Though we don't exactly "know" Ayu as a person-to-person relation, we know who she is, which is enough.

It's not too surprising that there are people who dislike her.

Hatred is just a part of life.

I can't see the pictures. >=(

Yeah, I wonder how Ayu is REALLY like in Japan...

awww i gotta see the talk in Music Station then....

i remember watching Ayu receiing awards from MTVJ awards and when they show the nominations, there were alot of ppl who clapped for Ayu more than all the other artists :cool

can some1 upload that please?

i know maybe there are some. but seeing her HUGE LOADED fans in HOKKAIDO FM in 18/9. I know she's the GODDESS of J-POP. I was STATED that ayu is the ONE who can have that HUGE fans GAINED to watched her. 5000 fans and 60 bodyguards who are surprised and saying that there should be NO lots of people like this in the snowy time. and last last record is GLAY which gathered "only" 1200 fans.
so that's one of my REALLY GREAT EVIDENCE

I watched that episode on TV, and I agree that there seemed to be a cold reaction. Even after she performed her song, the applause was a bit....quiet? I dunno, I was surprised I guess. The next week, she performed again, and seemed to get a warmer reception. Maybe. She appears on that show aaalll the time, so maybe a lot of folks have gotten tired of seeing her?

i quite believe that ayu is in a state like Brittney Spears, because of the overexpose and over popular(in 2001, she own 1/3 income in the whole japan music industry, it actually make japanese start to hate her) make her become many "created" rumors' target

In her debut, people started to love her as they started to love Otsuka Ai today, but after she got extremely popular in Janpan(japan fans call that period in 2001 'unnatural', ayu got unnaturally BIG that year,though in duty-era, she was already very very very very popular), some of people thought/think ayu didn't "deserve" that kind of popularity and wanted to pull her down, they become a specific kind of people which japanese called "ayu-anti ", they start to create rumors and spread in the internet, they wanted to make ayu to lose popularity. MANY people in Japan thought that ayu is too 'outstanding' that make other artists in japan become 'dull', those people started to hate her too.

the above situation is very sad to me, but those are all reality in japan, i can promise that ayu has the most amount of ' an-tis ' in japan(i am sure about that)

Let Ayu know that we'll always be with her!!! :luv2 But its cool that she's criticized because of having a perfect image, not because of a 55-hour marriage! Yes, Ayu and Hikki are so powerful that they make other artistes seem rubbish. Next on the platform of eternal stardom to join Ayu and Hikki is probably Mika Nakashima.. I dont think Koda Kumi will, her debut and follow ups arent as successful as Ayu, Hikki or Mika..

no offence, mika is not as popular in japan as 2 years ago, mika is not even a first-class(don't know how to express) artist in japan, the ONLY possible one is Ai (although i hate her, and she is NOW FAR less powerful and popular than ayu) or no one here you can see in japan music industry NOW is the one.

By history, a "singing queen" only appears in Japan after every 10 years, the fromer one(s) are in 80's. And before the next "singing queen", the reminding time is mainly dominanted by male singer. If you keep a closer look in japan music industry, you'll know besides in " singing-queen era ", male singers are the MAIN popular ones :( :( (personally, i doubt that a next jpop queen will appear in the following 5 years, i think she will appears in around 2010)

Oh, Mika's not that popular? My friends at school love her a lot and made me think Ayu is not as popular as Mika.. THANK GOD MIKA SUCKS. But I'm curious about her NANA single..
I think the current singing queen is either Utada or Ayu but I'm betting its Ayu. Utada just doesnt release enoguh to be that memorable eventhough her songs are like earthquakes from heaven. I think the next singing queen is around 2015, hopefully.. 2010 is also possible. Utada is probably gonna be the singing queen too.. Its up to anyones guess. Isnt Ayu more popular than male singers???

obviously she is not hate in JApan ...
omg she is hate in japan and yet managed to have almost sold out arena tour ~

wow that is probably true! makes sense :yes

Isnt that from Mean Girls, the best teen movie :laugh!!! I just noticed the pics!! They're evil!!!

Sorry for forgetting to include HIKIKI, so long ago, hikiki is one of the "singing queen" among ayu, but i guess she(hikiki) lack of release, she's getting less powerful than as she used to be(of couse, she's still very popular now).

as for male singers, Mr.children, southern all stars, B'z are first-class in powerful ,they get more acception in public than ayu, but for popularity, I guess they(include ayu) are in different type popularity as those 3 male singers(actually bands) have at debut for 10 years(they get high sale in CD).

for new band Orange Range, their popularity decline very QUICKLY during 2005, but i guess they will get their new album break through 1 miilion, however, i can't even guess how popular they will be in next year, they may decline the way as chemisty

she is not hated in japan, but hated by many "YOUNGSTERS" in Japan. i think CDs sold well doesn't mean not beign hated by others,eg. Brittney Spears

wow, that sounds cool. what will ayu be then? hmm..*sinking into thoughts*

I think Ayu would resign and become something like Martha Stewart, only with infinite looks.. I'd like Ayu to make a cooking show or a house decoration program! Weekly Housewives With Ayu!!! Or probably she'd start acting? Or MAKE A BAND!! Hikki, Ayu, Koda, Mika in a Spice Girl band thingy, except with real music..

I have always wondered how Ayu was treated by Japanese...

I wondered if it was like some of the bands here... like Britney Spears, or NSynch... Where they aren't as popular as they are in foreign countries...

It seems to me that when people talk of japanese music history the three female names that keep popping up is Yuming, hamasaki ayumi and utada hikaru. In that order. And also one of the three big idols from the 80s. I think that, like Max matsuura stated earlier, Ayumi is "turning into another yuming", a legend and classic in japanese pop/music altogether.

I think that is pretty much it except that Britney and Ayu have nothing in common in terms of personality or music - just in overall noteriety in their respective countries.

Who is yuming? Any pic of her? Anywayz, the only female singers in 70's or 80's that truly make people still love her today should be Momoe. She's the songtress of 昭和時代, and some of her songs are really good actually :D.

Talking about ayu and hikki... Like every people said hikki hasn't released anything for over 1.5 years. So even as a fan I dunno what impact she can make in Be My Last. If you say she gets less popular then how can she get the highest album sales last year (note: orange range's musiQ got 2.5 million copies as well... but they released it so late so it wasn't included in last year chart? or maybe half of their sales was included?). IF hikki sold less than 20K in the first week, then she's not that popular. Her last single did sold only around 15K, but first the cover is ugly, second the pv is ugly, and third she released the pv 1.5 weeks after the single had released.

AND i dun think ayu is overexposed nowadays? How many commercials she has this year? Only panasonic and morinaga. and please dun compare ayu with britney. i know their ways are a bit similar, but ayu didn't stink herself! we're watching britney from a pretty girl to er.. a fat girl who throw all her stuff away.. and married a useless husband. (PS: i'm talking about her image before she's pregnant)...

But to tell the truth and be realistic!! WHY DOES EVERYONE HAVE TO LOVE AYU!! People have their own right we love and we don't like poeple and that's normal you don't expect eveyone to love ayu. Moreover, it's not an "thing" that's happening now it's been happening forever!!!

This is all about perception to me, yea, you like the artist the first 3-4 years...then after that..it gets boring and people tend to think the person's "trying too hard" to stay in the media, which has been Ayu's case [in my opinion]

To me, I'll love Ayumi forever, her music, lyrics, style, all are very influencial to me. but yea....it's all about people's perception, although they don't 'notice' it, it's happening, and they have it...sadly,

Ayumi has been in the media quite a LONG time to me...average artist's spans..at least here..are like 2-4 [i think..] years, Ayu's been in the game close to 6 years.....think guys,...SIX years, wouldn't you get tired of seeing her face everywhere if you weren't a truely inspired fan? ....I'm sad to say this but..Ayumi's reign seems to be comming to an end (maybe in the next 1-2 years).....i'd hate her to leave..I love Ayumi Hamasaki. But of course...business is business..:sigh

I feel that ayu will only stop making music when SHE choses to. At this point, I'll doubt it'll be an "avex dropping old artist" stunt, and if so, she'll find a way, if she still wishes to let her words be reached by millions.

Max Matsuura believes Ayu will still be supported 10 years from now
Her reign is definately declining, but I don't think to the point where she will be replaced; in fact, far from that.

http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/7250/evil2pu.jpg

original picture posted on page 2 by truehappiness

^ LOL! them's some Evil people!!!

Seriously, guys, it's immature to look down on people who don't like Ayumi as much as you. Aren't you just stooping down to the level that you so criticize?

That is a very good point but I think this behavior is more applicable towards male idols (as you mentioned) and not run of the mill boys. (the same goes for female idols) Ayumi has had only one famous boyfriend (Tokio's Nagase) and I'm sure that Nagase fans have dislike of her in that sense (and vice versa).

i knew someone was going to say that sooner or later in this thread...i thought it'd be sooner though...

it is immature to look down on people for that reason, however it is so extremely rude not to clap when ANYONE has finished performing, especially on live TV

i think its really wrong and just rude, i don't know another word for it...even if she was TERRIBLE i would still clap for her....its common courtesy...there are no words...i can't believe it...

well.. even there is many many ppl in japan that hates ayu, that doesnt mean the WHOLE of japan hates her...

she still has TONS of fans in japan itself... n i'm sure that they r all die-hard fans...
n although she's losing fans, she's also gaining NEW ones!! with her everchanging style, its impossible to have ppl getting even sick of her...e.g: WILL (its so different!!)

n i personally don think she would retire or wadever in the next 1-2 years... take madonna n bon jovi for examples.... they r there for almost over 20 years, but still they r like BOMB!! i think like wad max said, she would be around for at least 10 more years... until she would make a good rest, but still make music once in a while or even start ALL OVER AGAIN!

come on guys... even she's hated, SHE STILL GOT US!!

I am really curious as to see who is going to be the next "Ayu"... the most historic pop queens in Japan seem to be Yuming, Seiko Matsuda, Namie Amuro, Utada Hikaru, and Ayumi Hamasaki... I am so so curious as to who is going to pop into the music scene.

i really think it's impossible or nearly impossible to get a new "ayu"... I think instead someone will just pop up out of nowhere and get the attention ayu got before... I think her popularity would go up if they took down half the posters and stuff all around japan... and release one single less every year... but that's just my opinion

I'm curious who will pop up next... I believe in 5 - 7 years, she will start to fade... I think she'll be one of the first artists to be supported in their 30s...

It's been a while for anyone to challenge the female throne. However, with how the sales look like these days, it seems like the pop-queen era has ended and is now replaced with boy-band madness.

Pop queens => dead, perhaps. Unless some radically talented person who also has looks pops up.. which is highly unlikely.. as today's society is.. not so.. :X

[think of it like.. singing in america is now.. talking about love, how it hurts, and complaining. And seriously talking. not even singing. talking to musical accompaniment.. T_T]

ayu seems a little lonley in this show dont you think? I think the attention were aimed at Koda kumi and the other girl. Koda had a lot of fun it seems...and the audience were only screaming when koda or that girl got interwied but when it was Ayus time it just went silent.....

can somepne please upload the music staion talk i haven't seen it :(

it's no different that people in america hating Britney Spears or Madonna *coughmecough*, or anyone else. Just because its Ayu doesnt mean everyone likes her

hehe but people would still clap for them during a live show...I'm betting ayu felt nervous or maybe even confused when she left. If it was as "cold" as you guys say who watced it, then wow... :thud

I do hope so. I wanna listen to ayu for another 10 yrs or more! :D

Don't worry! I would never compare Ayu to Britney. Although Britney's last album was good, Ayu is miles ahead of her. I was just saying that I wondered if she was treated in Japan like Brit was treated in America... that's all... it's the only comparison I can think of...

And as for singing comparison... I don't know ANYONE in America that I can ever begin to compare to Ayu... there is no one @__@ Not even Madonna : /

I was watching the latest episode of Music Station..and the girls were really happy to see Ayu..so maybe it's a case by case scenario?...

http://img360.imageshack.us/img360/3043/capture1ds.jpg
sorrry for the bad capture.

Anyway I don't think it's fair to base whether people hate Ayu on spontaneous responses by the audience....cause if it's based this way, I assume there are tonnes of Ai Otsuka-hate too...

http://img235.imageshack.us/img235/9321/capture20vk.jpg

The audience can't be smiley all the time right?

did the audience clap or screamed when ayu was interwied? They often show more entusiasm when the artist walks down those stairs.... :P

I hope so too. It'd be nice to be listening to Ayu after high school and university.

me too! after college, it would be cool to have at least 1 new song... because that would be... (not including this year) 7 years, if I go to a 4 year college... haha. lol. But I still she'll go strong with at least 1/3 of the country for another 5 years...

I think those girls in the background possibly might be just 'eh' xD Sometimes they are all HAPPY and sometimes they're like 'x.x bored to deth' xD

So.. yeah.. xD

/sleeps
Zeo

thats right, the audience arent permanent, they change everyday.. Ayu seems to be on music station a lot.. Ai Otsuka is so cute there!! She has haters too? o_O Thank god I've never seen a Hikki hater..

i also have never seen a Hikki hater~! she's 1 of Ayu's biggest competition and i don't even hate her... :P

^ me neither, but a lot of people seem to think she's going down...i hopenot, i'm confident that 'passion' will be on top and amazing

Anyway back to Ayu...hmm..yea ...silly audience..:P maybe the interview was just really boring at that time when ayu and ai wer e being interviewed? :P lol

i think i'm the same way. in 10 years, ayu might not be making new songs, but i'll still have all these cds, i'm sure i'll pop one in every now and then. its like the beatles for my mom, you always like that music from your youth. :)

well, I find out that ppl in Japan either love or hate ayu EXTREMELY. :yes.
some of them love her and go crazy about her while some dunt like her AT ALL.

as to Hikki, a large number of ppl like her but not many go on fire for her.

ALL IMO...:P

There wasn't any JPOP queen since the 80s, but then came Namie Amuro from 96-97 and then, in 1999, Ayu exploded and reached her peak in 2001 and 2002. In any country, I think, the male singers are the MAIN popular ones.

Yes, of course Ayu is hated. She's too overexposed. We think she's awesome, but lots of people disagree, I mean, lots of people in Japan say her voice is horrible (too nasal), she's too overexposed and her music sucks, because it's too eletronic and repetitive. But that's usual, every overexposed artist is hated and not just by 1/3, I mean, more people hate the most popular artists than love them. But, yeah, Utada Hikaru doesn't have much haters 'tho, almost everyone in Japan likes her.

you forgot about Amuro Namie... she was the the queen before Ayumi, i guess. she lost the throne now - but imagine she was once loved as much as Ayumi is now, girls in Japan just wanted to be like her.

and i really do wonder who's gonna be next... i think a new queen should appear a bit before the end of Ayumi's career -- Ayu appeared in 1999, when Namie was still "there", though not that powerful anymore.


some people here said Mika Nakashima isn't as good as Ayu/Hikki -- obviously, she IS! she does very different music, we can't put them together and compare, but she has the class and quality. she might not be as mainstream or popular as Ayu/Hikki, but she's there and it shows.

yeah my old GF really hated Ayu.......maybe its because my obsession to Ayu.....

even my parent sometimes warned me about my obsession with j-pop but i never question about their obsession to Siti Nurhaliza(famous singer in malaysia) and AF(some stupid talent search show with high rating in my country )....my gosh i really hate AF.....ops....this supposed to be about ayu not me...sry ^__^

Well.... Namie Amuro may have been very popular before Ayu's era, but she is NOWHERE near Ayu's stage.. Utada Hikaru also is not a queen. She is a musician. If you'd ask people in Japan: "who is ayumi hamasaki?" they would say "A superstar / the queen of jpop", but if you'd ask "who is utada hikaru?" they would say "An amazing singer". And that's exactly what Utada is. An amazing singer, NOT some overproduced jpop idol pushed to the top to reign over Japan...

The only person that can be compared with Ayu's state is Yuming. Not many people know her anymore, though she is still highly respected in Japan. The respect that she has is amazing. Yuming too had many different faces like Ayu. But she also was a great singer rather than a hot babe. Anyway, Yuming left a great impact on Japan. Many and MANY artists still cover her songs that are just worth gold. Think of Sotsugyou Shashin, think of Haru yo, Koi.... Those are all Yuming.

But that was long ago. Now it's Ayu. Ayu is much more powerful than any other artist ever in Japan. She has a way better image, she is produced way better and more modern than Yuming. She has way better looks, way more money into her songs. But Ayu does not yet have the enormous respect that Yuming has. But, just like Max Matsuura said, in 10 years Ayu's first hits will be seen as golden oldies, an she will be another Yuming. But first of course her stardom is fading. She was EVERYWHERE in Japan. On every corner, every billboard. She is a product. And that now is fading; the rest will come later.

omg rody u reply 2 my topic!

[fake ungrammarnazi!]

Zeo

maybe those girls are showing respect for ayu cause they are quiet, maybe ayu is intimadating. many love ayu. i went to guam for vacation last year and i met this beautiful 26yr old but she looked 17yrsold diving instructor named ayachan. she didnt speak much english so i was speaking to her in japanese, and i was asking her musical interests and she was just like "hamasaki ayumi", ayu has alot of influence. and in another instance i was vacationing in disneyland in california and i met students studying in overseas in california, i was speaking to them and i asked their musical interests and they also said "hamasaki ayumi" alot of people love ayumi. but there are some that not know of ayu very much like an acquaintance i met named chiesan she isnt very much into pop but more so into punk, she likes the michelle gun elephant, more into that scene. so maybe it depends on the scene? i dunno. but anyways everyone should love ayu cause they jsut should.