Do you think Ayu is too westernized?
 

Sometimes I feel that she's just too "westernized", don't you think so? I mean, as everyone here knows, America, Americans, English or anything with blonde hair is cool in Japan, but sometimes I think she overdoes it...

I wish she'd die her hair black or something, I'm kinda tired of her blonde hair, and how about at least one song with a Japanese title? The only ones that have a Japanese title are HANA, HANABI and HANABI~episode II~ and even those used roman letters!

Then again, most singers in Japan constantly use English cause it is "cool" or whatever but still. The last time she had dark hair was during the (miss)understood period... I love her either way but

what do you think?

for some reason i doubt she dyes her hair blonde because she thinks it's "cool" and more "western." english titles could just be a thing she started with since the beginning and maybe she doesn't want to title many of her songs in Japanese, i have no problem with it and i don't think she's too westernized.

Yes ! my sister said she looks like"Madonna" ( but i don't thinks so ) ! she has big eyes , blonde hair and that 's all makes she doesn't look like japanese . And i really don't want she uses japanese title for her songs ! i think english title'll be very easy to find.

I don't think so.

I think Ayu was one of the few artists to start the trend of roman-titled songs. And she remains one of the few who continues to do it. For me, memorizing Japanese song titles is hard. I can only remember easy ones like "ai no uta" and "wasurenaide". If it exceeds that length, it really doesn't matter how good the song is because I won't remember it from tomorrow.

One of the reason's why I love Ayu's western-thinking is because I'm a westerner by fact, and her music is western-friendly.

Ayu's hair color...I think she looks good with the honey-blond color she rocks, but I would like to see her with a different color every now and then. And no, that does not include that FUGLY red wig she wore for the (miss)understood tour, nor the platinum blond that makes the lighting effect from "Born to Be" cringe in horror. I'd like to see her in black, or even the color she wore during the Bold & Delicious/(miss)understood promotion.

She may not have looked like Ayu, but I thought it was a great change. It was fresh and she looked very cute when it was in pigtails. ^_^v

isnt thats the style that attract many of you? :laugh

for me, yes :yes i found many of japanese youngster likes to be westernized, and that process making another fashion line through asia. i like it, and i think they are really cool

hahaz. I like the way she is now. I never thought that she is too westernized.
And I like her titles in English too, yeah it'll be easier to rmb and find :)

^I agree...I like her the way she is....She looks Nice...I like her being a little different
i also like the songs titles to be english..its always been like that with ayu & I LUV IT!!:luv2
I like her with light brown hair......

About the English song titles...
Can many Japanese read roman lettering?

If not, how the hell do they manage to know what songs they like? XD

I love everything she's done on her hair or songs. But, I still really love her black and original hair.

they learn english in school nowadays and many people learn german, too, so they can read it


about the topic: I don't think shes too westernized, but i think she could wear her dark hair more often, i LOVE her startin and angels song hair

she did have black hair during pre-Duty era.. and also during Bold & Delicious times.. i mean hair colour doesnt determine whether one person is westernised or not. Many other Japanese singers have blonde hair too!!

and regarding titles, i guess it's ayu's preference.

Nonetheless, i must say that it's true that ayu loves the US a lot. Just look at how much time she spent in the USA during 2004 and 2005 (LA, Hawaii, NY).

She is also pursuing her own happiness. so i am fine with that. If she is westernised, i suppose she will begin talking in english in ALL MCs of ALL concerts.

Dying hair and using English in songs are common in Japan. Being a huge fashion icon, it's normal for Ayu to constantly change her hair.

The word "westerner" is so broad to me that I don't see a significant difference of that from a non-westerner, especially because there is a lot of cultural diversity and cultural change within the West and the East. The word is used very loosely and can lead to certain ideals or stereotyping.

I think she looks better with lighter hair

i wouldn't take it against her that she has her hair color the way she wants it

Other artists use English song titles as well. Usually next to the English song title, in parenthesis, it's written in katakana so people can read it if they didn't know what it said. Also, don't forget kanariya; add that to the list of her Japanese song names, even though it too is romanized. I really don't mind at all; she looks good with any color hair. Black looks really nice though. She should change it up at random times of the year.

I think she's fine the way she is tbh.

Ayu dying her hair blond is probably her way of experimenting, just trying different colours to see what looks good and what doesn't. Keeps things interesting.

Using English and roman lettering was common before Ayu began doing it. Maybe it's me but I like the English titles, I try to figure out how the title correlates to the lyrics.

I would of Ayu as more universal and not just "western"

I'm not trying to be rude, but what the heck are you talking about? JPop artists have always used English, way before Ayumi. And even now, go to iTunes Japan and you'll se that 80% of the songs on the top 100 are English-titled.

The thing is... although I love Ayu to death and I think she is very original in many ways, her blonde hair and English titles are everything but original, imo. :thud:D

imo, she looks better blond, and she's one of the few asians I've seen who can really pull off the look without it looking too incredibly fake.

And really what's the big deal with her using English song titles? It's not like she spams English every other word within the songs like everyone else =/... Not counting the songs from RAINBOW that is >.>...

^IA. I don't get the big deal with English titles...does changing them to a Japanese word equivalent suddenly make them more meaningful or something?

Define "westernized", because the "western culture" has such a broad spectrum.

hmm i don't think so, i think ayu is fine the way she is, and i like her song titles in english better...saves the frustration of tagging them correctly or not
though i do like her brown hair better, her blond hair is really pretty most of the time!

I don't think Ayu is too westernized. Just because she is blonde? I'm sure that is her preference...and she uses English titles for her songs? So? A lot of JPop artists do that, that doesn't mean they are westernized either. I like Ayu the way she is.

*Ai Ootsuka*

Everything but original? What hair color could you have that's really "original" though? I mean, black, brown, red, and anything in between would be no more "original" than blonde. And what about English titles? Would having the titles in Japanese be more original? No... It's not like no one in Japan has Japanese song titles..?

I don't see how having song titles in Japanese and having a different hair color would make her more "original". That's just not the right word to describe it.

Though I do admit I'm tired of her hair being blonde for the past 50 years.

For the hair color its globalization. Just this.. its well knowed in Western countries the love for blonde hair. So
Japan learn more about the western culture -> The western culture will be blend with japanese culture.
If Japan wasn't be opened to the world, maybe Ayu was an enka singer with black hair who wear ALWAYS kimonos. lol

But maybe blonde its just Ayu's favourite dye :D

For the english titles, I dunno lol.
Maybe they sounds more nice than in japanese.

I guess she has a noticeably western influence in style and music, which is not necesarily a bad thing

True-true, but perhaps I didn't explain myself very clearly.

To me, Ayu is one of the few to consistently use romanized titles. With only one song, a cover as one written in pure Japanese. Most artists that I am aware of flirt with english with titles like ENGLISH no SOMETHING-JAPANESE, chose a roman title every now and then and again, or use Japanese text.

But that's just my opinion...I'm not an expert on J-pop History or anything like that. I just know based on the 80s-90s J-pop I listened too, a lot of it was kinda mixed...But Ayu consistently used roman lettered titles. Maybe there are other artists who did the same, but I think in the end they followed a few trends here and there and screwed with the flow. :P

I think it's a little rude to call someone "too westernized."

If Ayu likes western culture, then Ayu likes western culture.

Just like, if we like Japanese music, then we like Japanese music.

You can't really change what you like or are attracted to.


I actually hate titles in Japanese. They're a pain in the ass to tag correctly...and then people tag them differently because there's different ways to write it...and then some people encode them weirdly...just a mess.

Thank god for Ayu's english titles.

I think shes pretty westernized, but in her own Japanese way lol


she still pretty Japanese after all, and if she can speak English, why not to call her songs in English too! and I think its a marketing thing as well, easier to remember her song names in English for people from other countries around Asia for example.

and shes a Diva! xD as any other diva, they change their hair, etc etc etc

Um no.
Japanese culture OVERALL is pretty westernised. In Japan the most common clothing and makeup originate in the West.

Ayu is no more westernised than the average Japanese girl dressing up in jeans and a t-shirt & putting on makeup.

all japanese people can read roman letters exept maybe some very old people. they are learning them from a very young age.

anyways, i don't think she's too westernized. it's been know for a long time that they use english names for their songs so that everyone can understand them. it's just easier that way.

and Ayu looks beautifull with all of her hair colours (again, exept the red wig she had on tour) but i like her with brown hair the most, the one she had in GAME PV was perfect!!!!!!!!! but she can't always have the same hair colour, so she changes it a lot.
i agree that it's been a some time since she had black hair, but i don't mind^^

I don't have a problem with her song titles. I think she does them that way so that everyone can understand them, not just her Japanese audience. It's something really unique that she does and I really like it.

As for her look...I definitely think it's too westernized. I'm one to think that people look best when they're as natural as can be, and for Ayu that would mean having black hair. But whatever, it's her decision.

I think she rocks the blonde hair quite well. But I would also like to see her with darker hair. I thought she looked amazing with the dark brown during her (miss)understood days.

Am I the only person that way prefers her with blonde hair as compared to the dark? XD I don't think the brown/black hair looks that good on her at all, unless it's cut really short...but she hasn't done that since her debut era. (I also think that wig from the mu tour was FANTASTIC and want one for myself XD)

I think Ayu has her very distinct style when it comes to her titles. for the MOST part they're one word English words. IT's something we can almost always count on. I don't think it makes her any more or any less original. And I agree that, well, save for enka maybe, just about all of J-pop is "westernized" if you're going by the definition. But then you have to ask...what's the alternative? Mostly J-pop is heavily influenced already by western music. J-pop itself partially originated from pure cover bands back in the 50s-60s doing music by Elvis and the like, from which later people were inspired.

So, ah, no, I don't really consider her being "westernized" as a bad point.

I dont really understand this debate between "westernized" or so.
Japan is a western nation.
It speaks a different language than english, yes, but many definitions of "the West" include Japan.
Japanese foundations in law, politics, and education were influenced by American occupation,
And Japanese modern music started immitation of American.

Blonde hair is a native to very small amount of the population of Earth,
But maybe 75% of america use blonde hair dye to make a blonde hair.
I dont feel it is any different than Japanese doing the same.
Those people who dye their hair blonde dont wanna be from Netherlands, or similar.
They just thinks it look good.
Same in Japan.

It is a lot the same way as people who like Japan, but arent Japanese.
Is it okay for you to like Japan, but its not for Ayumi to like American?
I dont understand this.. I dont think I can even understand it.
It's a really confusing, and sometimes stupid concepts.
In Japan, its just you wanna to look good,
And red hair or blonde hair can bring out a really good look in a lot of skin tones.

That's all...
It doesnt wanna to be white, just it looks better than a boring black hair, in many people's opinion.

Or .. I dont know, do you want her music just to be traditions of Japan?
Stop with her sounds, and move to non-westernized sounds? orz;
And the english titles.. she cannot convey the same english meaning in Japanese titles,
Or sounds really dumb. I think it's just an artist thing.

Such as,
Neverending Dream - > 果てない夢-> Hatenai yume. It doesnt have the same impact.
Or, poker face -> 平気な顔 -> heiki na kao. It just sounds so stupid. ahahaha.

It's just for artistic effect~~

only thing i would call too western about her are her eyes. nothin' more. cuz she looks more european then me

You said it Maikaru :yes

If you go to Japan you'll immediately notice that the Japanese in general are very westernized (fashion-wise). Most teenage girls that I saw there dyed their hair and wore a lot of western-influenced clothing. I don't think Ayu's any different from these other Japanese girls. I think she's actually a good representative of Japanese fashion and style (well, I don't think most girls have as much money to change their hair as often, but that's besides the point :P). So I think a better question would be, "are Japanese girls too westernized?" Japan in general is obsessed with America, and I haven't the faintest idea why. :laugh So to even say that you think her PVs are too westernized would be questioning Japanese society more than Ayu, because many Japanese would love to see a PV set in America.

Granted, Ayu seems to change her hair color/style more than a lot of Japanese female artists, but that's probably just Ayu. She probably just likes having different styles; I can't imagine she's trying to become as western as possible. I don't think that's her ultimate goal (but again, I'm not Ayu so I can't say for sure). If it were, she would never ever change her hair color back to black. And we know Ayu, she's way into clothes and fashion and image, moreso than a lot of female artists (Hikki and Ai-chin, for example). It's just her personality. She's going to try everything. :laugh

So no, I don't think she's too westernized. She is a modern Japanese girl. Modern Japanese girls are westernized. This is what I expect her to look like. If you want a traditional Japanese singer you're going to have to listen to enka or classical. That's like people going to Japan expecting to see tea houses on every corner and geisha walking about.

And really, as I said, a lot of it is amplified by her personality. She likes clothes and hair. Much moreso than some other artists. She just happens to like blonde-ish hair more. :P

Others have already brought it up, but the question is: What is "Western"? And what is "Japanese"? Would colouring my hair black and wearing a kimono make me "asianized"?
The borders between what is what are very thin. Specially in our age. And something that might seem very "Western", might actually have their influence from a completely different culture. It's a process that went on since thousands of years and will go on.
By how maikaru put it so well, wouldn't that mean that most of us on here are "Japanized"? What makes an American "American", a Japanese "Japanese" or a Pole "Polish" anyway? Is someone less "Japanese" by the mere fact of coloured hair or wearing jeans? Are they supposed to wear kimono and carry a katana with them? lol Overall, this is a very delicate topic!!

Like someone already wrote, ayu is more "universal". Take "Endless sorrow" PV, for example. She could have very well put only Japanese people into it, but with various nationalities it went from a domestic to a universal issue. Same with "HEAVEN" and other PVs. I don't think it's the mere fact of being "cool" that plays a role here.

Also, as a side note, it's impossible to colour black hair any darker, right? So all there's left is colouring them a lighter colour. ^^ That's probably all there is to it.

I dont understand how English and blonde are exclusively western phenomena. English is a pretty global language (at the moment) and hardly anyone is a natural blonde. It's not like if you're Westernized you have blonde hair and speak English.

Yeah, for as a popular as a hair color as it is, blonde is hardly natural for anybody who has blonde hair. Heck, I have two blonde wigs I wear for the day whenever I feel the mood. And, ha, a good portion of my father's bloodline is Swedish. =P (...but I got blue eyes, though.) I can't really blame Ayu for changing her hair color so much...I always want to do something too but don't want to dye my hair, so I buy wigs instead. XD In her case I think it's just a mix of personal preference and the want/need to be a fashion icon. Fashion icons have to always change their images to still be fashion icons.

honestly, i only like ayumi with blonde hair. her miss understood era hair was pretty and all, but for me, she just dosen't look the best with dark hair.

That's correct! I buy a lot of Japanese magazines and almost every girl in there has blonde hair, and they also use a lot of English. So much, if you don't speak Japanese you would still be able to follow what is going on. That is why I never thought she was too Westernized, because she is like the average Japanese girl.
IA. I mean, she sings mostly in Japanese so if she wanted to be "western" wouldn't she sing mostly in English? Just because the title is written in English doesn't mean anything.

I think it's just so damn cool that her titles are in English. As maikaru said, there is a certain artistic influence... and do remember that she rarely uses the title in the song, so it just adds another different perspective to her songs.

Also by 'westernized', you mean that she's becoming too much like a western, then hey, how often does she use English in her lyrics?

Uh, what other reason do people dye their hair for? Since Japanese people aren't born blonde... Because it looks good/they were influenced by the Western looks.

That's what I mean, since Japan in general is very westernized I wish Ayumi would stand out a little more than the typical Japanese girl.

I'm sorry if I've upset anyone, it wasn't my intention.

But like I've always thought it was dumb that a lot of people feel that if you're blonde, you're beautiful, regardless of race cause lots of american and latina girls feel that way too. I also think it's stupid that the whole world feels that the English language is superior in every single way. Since so so many girls feel that way, I want Ayu to stand out more,,,

I think a lot of Japanese girls think
「金髪じゃなきゃキレイなワケがないな」"If I'm not blonde, I'm not beautiful" <-- I don't want Ayu to feel that way. 　（　≧　д　≦　）／

I have to agree with some of the comments here.

Being that Ayu is blonde and uses tons of English, I don't see it as her being too Western. She just admires that culture and likes to use it in her music. Blonde is a very good color on her and, I have to say, it's what makes her unique. English titles are also a relief for me being that I'm completely American, but isn't English almost like Japan's second language? It's quite common, so maybe it's just easier within the music world...

Like emiko said, it's like us listening to Japanese music and liking the Asian culture. It doesn't make us too "Easternized."

:)

I'm not sure how she's suppose to do that... if blonde hair = westernized and dark hair = traditional Japanese then how would she stand out? She would have to have green hair and wear tacky clothes to stand out in Japan, even still I don't think she would xD; Japan is mixed with so many influences.

To be honest, I think she does actually look quite Western, or at least not very Japanese. Naturally I mean, as in her facial structure and all that. The first thing my Mum said once when she saw me looking at some Ayu thingy on wikipedia was, "She's got Western blood in her" :O

It's probably not true, but it is possible I guess. Anyway, offtopic, it just reminded me of it.

I think she looks great with blonde hair, it really suits her! I've not seen many pics of her with dark hair, but I don't really think it looks as good on her. It's only natural to want to look your best!

Song titles, I'm indifferent, but it would be a bit pointless to change it now, since all the rest have been in English.

I never thought of Ayu as "too westernised". She certainly likes the US and the English language but I don't see that as defining her as "western" or "anti-Japanese" or anything of the sort.

To me, Ayu's constant hair style changes and her music ARE her. If she was to suddenly drop the Roman lettering in her titles and use Japanese, or if she decided to leave her hair natural and never change the colour again, she wouldn't be "the" Ayu anymore. Fashion icons can't go around wearing the same thing forever and musicians can't progress without experimenting with different music styles or wording.

If Ayu were to change all of her song titles back to Japanese, stop using English words in her songs and leave her hair dead straight and brown for all eternity, she would become to me just an average J-Pop singer. Nothing about her would stand out and she would be lost in a sea of thousands of other wannabes and try-hards.

A huge part of Ayu that I love is her willingness to try new styles, to put herself out there into the public with something that could be seen as scary and slowly let people appreciate it. Her hair styles haven't always been great but you have to admire her for trying them. Also, in my experience, Ayu is one of the first Japanese singers I've found to use English letters for every single one of her songs. Lots dabble in English and lots have 2-3 songs with English in the title but Ayu is the first I found to use it every time. This might be seen as very bold in Japan (it is to me) and is one of the ways Ayu pushes musical boundaries (it's a shame this style isn't appreciated and reflected better in our musical charts!!).

But putting that aside, Ayu works very hard, why can't she enjoy her little free time to change her hair style, to experiment with different sounds, to dabble in foreign languages here and there? I certainly would if I had the time :)

English isn't an universal language because people find it superior, it's because of the internet and the roles the US played after WW II.

Being blonde is an idea that's been around since back in the day.

It went in fashion and the whole "Gentlemen prefer blonds" type idea has sort of evolved into this whole "Blonds have more fun" idea, and also the stereotypical blonde haired, blue eyed, big boobs kinda thing, that many girls think men enjoy...and not to be too general, but a lot of men do :laugh

What's funny is, I read an article where they looked at the significant others of the top men in power...and they all prefer brunettes lol.

About English...someone already took care of that.

Besides, Ayu stands out on her own. Other Japanese girls are just...I don't know. Japanese people are wierd to me. Japanese men are just...woah. And the women are usually annoyingly vain. But...I shouldn't really say those kinds of things about the whole country. Just like a lot of other people shouldn't really stereotype Americans in certain ways.

America is a HUGE country. I've been to whole towns where EVERYONE is blond. Not because they dye their hair, just because, that majority settled there, and it just stays in the gene pool.
Similarly, I've been to places where everyone is mixed. You can find any type of person here. The whole "Blondes = America" thing is...just weird.

Is this all Marilyn Monroe's fault? :laugh

Next time Ayu goes blonde, I'm gonna make a thread and say she's being too Nordic or something.

English is also universal because it is the Lingua Franca, the language of commerce. Since the United States / Great Britain have (had) such strong economies and trade, English is the language of trade world wide. When that status changes, the Lingua Franca changes as well.

^It goes even deeper and further back into history, with Imperialism and colonization of other countries by those countries.

It always makes me think...when the English defeated the Spanish armada in 15-whatever, and we were learning about it in class, my teacher made the comment "Imagine if Spain had won? We'd probably all be speaking Spanish right now." lol

No way. The only westernized thing about her is her blonde hair and her penchant for watching american dramas. I think her mindset and mannerisms are still very much japanese.

My history teacher pretty much made the same comment.

Maybe they teach them to say that at some convention.

Did you have AP?

I don't know. I'm mostly Japanese and let me tell you I hate my normal dark hair. I think it's plain, boring, dull, drab, and I always color it. And with the hairstyles I have, my normal dark hair doesn't look very nice, so it's better if it's colored a lighter color. I don't see how her constant hair dying makes her too "Western" if you ask me.

Well, for me ayu's just being westernized by her artistry like image, etc.. But ayu's songs (except for English titles) and lyrics are still like Japanese... But yeah.. sometimes it's quite tiring to see ayu in blond-colored hair...

when my dad saw the cover of A Complete he said 'I thought she was Japanese' XD

I don't think she's too westernized but it rather calls International.

English title is easy to remember from her fans all over the world.

No, but I should probably be in AP. She's the kind of teacher to input her opinions on almost everything.

I know that you wanted to explain to woman that they are beautiful, but the problem is, is that blonde hair does not make someone Western or the use of English titles. Although Ayu has blonde hair and double eyelids, a term I find offensive, she really does not look too Western compared to other artists who are Japanese. Look at Sifow with her very tan skin and blonde hair (she did at least in 2006), what about Koda Kumi who had her provacative dance moves, clothes, some what tan skin, dyed hair, and then there were those lyrics. Then there is Namie Amuro who someone people can say that because she is a 30 something woman who is somewhat similiar to older women who has a child and who want to still look sexy, think about those stereotypical women in Orange County. Yet, I came to realize that many American woman do the exact same thing they get surgery to have smaller noses, larger hips, bigger breasts, fuller lips (look at the cosmetic tips in Cosmo, teenvogue, ym, seventeen magazine, cosmogirl, elle, and etc); I do not want to sound blunt or rude but women around the world do this. I have to ask the question is Utada Hikaru more Japanese and hence more relateable to the Japanese public because she appears to have had no cosmetic surgery, she has black hair, and she wears jeans often? If so, then maybe we all need to take a look at the stereotypes that we perceive to be true and get over the fact that their not true. Those artists that I mentioned have there personal styles and all of those few styles that I mentioned are representative of the japanese culture and its many people, not the Western world, just because you think they are only present in your country.
Concerning Ayu's lyrics how in the world is someone considered Western because they use English words in the songs or song titles. A friend of mine explained to me that English lyrics are used because it is a way for artists to express themselves. Are spanish speaking artists (whether they are Dominican, Mexican, Cuban, Latin American, Spanish, Guatamelan) because they choose to speak in English? No, they are using English to express themselves, which is very interesting if you are a fan of lyrics. I like how Ayu uses English lyrics on Masa's website there is an explanation of the English lyrics in Real Me and how they are an exaggeration when compared to the Japanese lyrics. Or look at the English lyrics in Heartplace or glitter which I find interesting because Ayu had broken up with her boyfriend at the time yet she talks about still believing in love, even though she felt that her and her boyfriend were better off as friends. Instead of mentioning that she is Western because she has English song titles, why not mention that her song titles tend to relate to her songs, and then remark on the fact that she is one heck of a song writer because frankly it would appear that she would not even be able to speak English, because she is Japanese. Also liked that waterballon mentioned how Ayu rarely uses her song titles in her songs which I find even more interesting to analyze. I just wanted to say that I did not want to offend anyone and that if I made any generalizations I do not support them, however I do know that most people believe them.

Very well said, dawnss. She might display some "western-ess" in her but no where near enough for me to consider her that.

You forgot Sot(something) Shashin from A BALLADS and kanariya :yes

Sotsugyou Shashin?

one can never be too westernized
it just goes to show that western styles is appealing and may seem more modern for her...

I would love to see Ayu wear a kimono all the time and perform the way she does now! All her dancers would look like samurais and the stage would be set up like ancient Japan all the time. I think that would be funny xD;....

I think it's really a western style with her own unique fashion sense mixed in, giving way for something totally new.

I think...That Ayu is not westernized at all. I mean she has her eyelids and her dyed hair, but who doesn't? If you mean lyrically of course, well then I'd have to say a definite no. I do not think Ayu would be able to make a successful debut in America. The styles just don't match. Of course I'd loved to be proved wrong! :)

I think what people term 'western' does not belong to just western culture- someone above mentioned 'global culture'. I think the styles shown by pop stars around the world have many similarities, and 'the west' is not the source of many of them anymore. English is no longer a purely 'western', as is it a first language of many people in countries from Singapore to Nigeria to India. And the current fashions are influenced from celebrity and styles from many places all over the world, not sourced exclusively from America or Europe or wherever, so I'd argue they are as much a part of Japanese culture as anywhere else. To me Ayu is pretty Japanese... not at all 'western', which I would argue is a term that cant really be used anymore these days.

naturally, she has western influence, but i don't think it crosses a line like Koda or many of the Japanese R&B/hip-hop artists that blatantly try to sell themselves to a market of American pop-culture wannabes. that wasn't too harsh, was it?

I gotta agree with you on that... Many j-pop artist are way more westernized, as they copy american rhythms and use a lot of english in their lyrics
And yeah, Koda Kumi is one of them, just take a look at That Ain't Cool :rolleyes

That's all true x 10000 times.
Take some of the other popular singers for example.
hikki who came from the US to Japan and brought the R&B style to Japan along with her, kumi which her style is very westernized, even without the collaboration with Fergie, her image, Namie's hip-hop style and image are million times more westernized than ayu's styles.
imo it's not a bad thing though it always depends on what we are talking about.
Specifically talking about ayu, she is not awfully westernized and I think she is well balanced and versatile with that.
You won't find english lines or words inside of most of her songs' lyrics.
Asking her being less westernized is like asking her to appear in kimonos, sing enka music and dye her hair black.
The fact that she doesn't name her songs in japanese (even the ones that are in japanese and not in japanese letters) is just ayu's way to put her songs to the fans/crowd, Like most artists/popular artists. At least inside of the songs (which is what more important) she has less english than others. For some reason, "don't judge a book by its cover" fits here.

read only first and last page so maybe this has been said a 100 times already, but...

Could you imagine Ayu WITHOUT blond hair and large (sometimes blue) eyes?

I cannot, she wouldn't be ayu!

It's her image to look international. She wouldn't be Ayu if she looked Japanese. (there's nothing wrong with that of course, look at Hikki I love her to bits)

And even with black hair she still looks very not-Japanese, look at the Bold & Delicious vid xD

considering how she rarely uses [complete] english phrases in her lyrics, that alone convinces me she isn't westernized unlike other artists who have at least two in every other song. like *rolls eyes* i hate that.

and besides, do all asians have to be forced to have black hair and chinky eyes?

plus, she doesn't [suck up] to the westerners like Utada and BoA who let 'em degrade them by taking over their talents. i don't mean to offend anyone, but some artists try too hard while Ayu seems to respect her roots and at the same time, she treats internationalism very wisely with guarded interest.

Lol "chinky eyes". That might offend some people. The only album where she used a significant number of English phrases was RAINBOW. If I recall Heartplace and Real me had the most lines of English and they were quite complete. I believe that the English lines were necessary in Real me, as saying it in Japanese probably does not drive home the point as well. Heartplace is up in the air for me since the chorus is basically the English and it does sound irregular. In the end the only real English words she common sings is "wow yeah yeah" lmao. She's true to her music and uses the language she knows best to convey her thoughts best. It's intriguing how 99% of her song titles are in English, but there's no mention of any of it in the actual lyrics, with the special exception of the songs in the RAINBOW album. Of course, this is not nearly enough to make her "western".

lol MAYBE ALIL too westernized but whatever it is, as long as she feels comfortable with it, then i support her!! :D
i remember an interview or something where she mentioned that she is glad that she dyed her hair back to blonde again because she feels it suits her the best.
as long as AYU is who she is, WE LOVE HER right?? :D

Not sure I follow along with this statement.

Utada clearly did not 'suck up' because she flopped hard. Her album was no where near what was being listened to by the English music audience. She could have taken the "Blow My Whistle" direction and didn't. It would have been a bit more successful than Exodus.

BoA is just BoA. Britney of Asia. She was manufactured and found a nook that suits her, I guess. I love her but I don't take any of her moves seriously.

Correct me if I'm wrong but I didn't see anything about other artists in the question "Do you think Ayumi is too Westernized?" Maybe people just reaching out to negate some other artists to push their favorite higher up on a pedestal, who knows.

Regarding Ayumi being Westernized: She names several American artists/groups as her influence/liking. Models herself strikingly similar to Madonna. Her image and production, I believe, is more that of a Western society but I think her moral stand points and ideals are of Japanese society. She hasn't lived in nor experienced a true culture shock of living in the so-called West. Her stunt in NYC was far too short to brush off a lifestyle.

So I think that she shows signs of both international views and the Japanese views.

Either way, doesn't phase me. She's a singer and occassionally has a song I really like.

^ understand that i've put "suck up" in brackets b/c, after all, i couldn't find a better term for it at the time, leaving it open for anyone to replace it with their better term XP
but either way, Ayu doesn't seem to desire that westernization/globalization as much as other artists make it obviously appear. like i said before, she has a protected interest in it and she probably doesn't think she needs to extend that interest anymore than she already has as she maybe knows who she is in the entertainment industry and prefers herself to be that way--which she knows is best for her. I've started to listen to Ayu and other artists around the same time and no one artist has stuck with me since besides Ayu b/c there's this kind of respect I have for her for the fact that she never gave me that "omg, you're tryin too hard to be westernized" corny feel that turned me off. her song titles may be mostly in english, but she seemed very much the epitome of Japanese contemporary music, not conforming like most other artists. that cheesy aura never came off from her to me. so i really can't convince myself that she's "too" westernized b/c she never was, especially musically.

That's false and a bit biased.

IMO, Utada and BoA always had that American look especially Utada. She's was born and raised in the US. She's a customed to the American style. BoA's look wasn't that far apart from the American style to begin with. Just because they both are trying to break into a new musical market doesn't mean they are degrading themselves. Yes, some artists try too hard to look westernized but it's something that's interesting to them and I don't think you have right to say they don't respect the roots. Ayumi wears big name designer clothes and shoes, who caters to mostly the westerners, all the time. Heck, I don't Ayumi even shops that much in Japan anymore. She's outta Japan more than she's in Japan these days. And Ayumi has done some naughty things that Americans or other western countries normally do. Does that make her disrespectiful to Japan or degrading?

Huh? So if she would have made it, that would have made her a suck up? Sorry but I'm not following you. :laugh Exodus failed due to poor promotioning. The only single that got decent promotion was Devil Inside and even then it was just the remixes I believe. No one knew about Blow My Whistle which had a movie tie-in. Despite the movie getting big success, her song wasn't even played in the movie and the soundtrack wasn't even popular (only one song was big off of the soundtrack I think). Plus Exodus did have BMW-type of songs and people raved how horrible those tracks were.

^what's the "American look", might I ask?

and what naughty things do Americans or people from other western countries normally do?

:rolleyes

Man this thread is full of people saying things they have no business saying.

The best post in this thread was by Corybobory.
and I think we should all take some time to consider the fact that this is the new world we live in, and some people are just going to have to square with the one day.

^Why ask me those questions when you in the states like me? =/

Because America is full of people from all over the globe. There is no single American look anymore. Not even in fashion. All the highest fashion comes from Italy, England, and France.

And besides, I don't think we do things that are that bad at all. People live their lives the way they live them, and no one else can say anything, because no one else knows anything about other people's circumstances or reasons, or anything.

The questions were a bit rhetorical. There was nothing you could have said that would make me agree with you...so I'm sorry to have singled out your post.

It wasn't just yours though, this thread is overflowing with bad posts.

IIRC, all the highest fashions are selling biggest in America.

When I said naughty things that Americans do in videos, I was talking about pole dancing, wearing just bra (I can't think of the name of those special-type of bras. lol) w/ just jeans or something like that, posing topless, dancing exortically, tattooing the body (I might be wrong on that but I read that it's kinda Taboo to get tattoes in Japan.), and so on.

LOL. You are fine about the question. After reading my statements in my previous post, I could've made it sound a little less stereotypical.

Yoo Bin, i'm speaking of Ayumi for what she does musically and as a performer. So wait--are we referring to her fashion taste as well? It's ok to like import designers more than our own. But speaking of musically, I've never felt Ayumi lean so heavily towards globalization/internationalism as other artists. And don't get me wrong when i list Utada or BoA as if whoever i list ultimately makes me false in my statements and bias. Sorry--must i list the whole dayum list which i feel i don't have to? Many artists' style are heavily westernized, and must i explain what westernized means? it's what all non-caucasians have referred it to before the terms globalization and internationalism. it's what was referred to as the assimilation towards the Caucasian's customs.

i must repeat, im only referring to Ayu musically b/c, indeed, she is a performing artist. fashion is another story. nothing in fashion is considered all westernized. everyone possesses fashion.

Ayu can pull off being blond so well and she may see it like a tade mark thing to have her hair blond and it also makes her stand out more or she may just hate her natural hair colour, she wouldn't be the first too

Had a lot to say but some people are just going to continue having a warped mindset that the, so-called, West is a negative thing.

Thanks for clearing up what you meant panda. :]

The world is connected now, more so than ever. There is absolutely no way that cultures and viewpoints aren't going to shift and mold into similarities throughout.

Thanks emiko :) It really suprises me how people think all of these styles and ideas are sourced from America. It's really ethnocentric I think. Boa and Utada and Ayu do not seem American in the slightest to me. Blonde and English are not American. The styles you see that they have are Japanese. Japan is not just kimonos and samurais, and anything 'modern' is not 'western'.

I love the word ethnocentric by the way. I'm happy I got to use it.

because American music has been influencing the whole world, so it's very normal to see some Asian artists who're influenced by the American music culture~
there's nothing wrong with that..
and i love to see Ayu like that... but more importantly, she always has her own trademarks... she always has her own trademarks~ she's the trendetter~

not really, i wish she can acutally perform in the "west" though

I agree with you cory. all western countries contribute to the global entertainment and the exchange of ideas and information is so rapid these days it's quite acurate to call it a panwestern culture with local varieties rather than separate cultures with some global influences. Of course, a number of mainly american, french, english, german and japanese companies are dominating, but most of all these have lately turned global than country based in terms of what they offer and how. Even mcdo has a very different range of products depending on which country you visit.



This is definetly not ture, in fact Japan has a higher piece of luxury goods retail consumption than the US even with 50% of the population ;)

Sure, american music has influenced the world pop music scene, but so has bands originating in england and rest of europe. Now, even the mainstream focus is shifting slightly to japan and asia. It'll be exciting to see how it devellops next.

I agree with Emiko. America is not a homogeneous country. It never was. And not all of America is like LA or New York City, and its music scenes are far from just hip-hop and RnB. To characterize the west by these traits is no better than people thinking Asia is just full of studious people who gets good grades on Math.

We live in a globalize world.

I don't think that Ayu is too westernized.

Being blonde might be strange at first sight, but Ayu is able to pull it off. I once read a thread from other Ayu-unrelated site with the caption "Does being blond looks good on Asian?" and someone posts that "Ayumi Hamasaki could be blonde forever!" out of nowhere.

I also think that perhaps Ayu wants to cover her past by dyeing her hair blonde. Maybe she felt "naked" when she had black hair -- it reminds her of the past. By being blonde, it's like being a new person; being the Ayu all Ayu could be . . . :yes

That person speaks the truth! Lol

ayu looks gorgeous with blonde so what's the problem? beside being blonde is not a state of westernized.i also likes how she use english title for her songs because it's easier to remember (she has too many of them so japanese title may make it hard)

ayu's "being westernized" gives her more possibility,,,such as the blonde geisha in the part of Me pv.!

I'd also like to see ayu with something like "Sometimes Samurai" in the Kylie X2008 Show~~