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After reading this whole exhausting thread, I thought I'd throw in my two cents from inside Japan.
Ayu has dedicated fans, but she isn't super popular to new crowds anymore. As others have stated, a 10th anniversary is a way to remind the Japanese public that she's "old," and that actually isn't beneficial to her image. Fans want to see her in person more than they want to see her on TV or in magazines, so the tour is a good route for her to take.
She is still everywhere though. Whenever I go to an electronics store, I see her pictures on Panasonic camera/mp3 player adds. At music stores, they still have her products on display separate from the regular shelves and they have large posters. Now that A Complete has been announced, there is a table at the entrance to the store with a HUGE poster of one of the Mirrorcle World single covers announcing the release date and that preorders have started. At karaoke, BDam has teamed up with Ayu's 10th anniversary celebration and now has not only all of her discography but several concerts and remixes available to sing too. When you select a song by her, her 10th anniversary logo flashes. No other artists have this kind of promotion through karaoke.
Also, when Mirrorcle World came out, maybe she didn't perform on Music Station, but at literally every store I went into, and even at the gas station, I heard the song being played. The radio play for Mirrorcle World was far more frequent than the radio play for Talkin' 2 Myself. Yes, this has died down, but I expect I'll be hearing a lot more of her once again now that A Complete and the new single are coming out soon.
On top of that, Ayu barely finished recording GUILTY. She said herself that creating the album was a miracle because she was going to give up. And although I love the album, I think Ayu is in a period of severe creative burn out. The reason we haven't had a new single for the summer is probably because Ayu hasn't had any new lyrics until recently. Unlike other artists, no lyrics = no song because she writes her lyrics herself. Yes, it is very unfortunate that her burnout coincides with her 10th anniversary, but I personally would rather her come up with quality work than to try to push out subpar music just to make it a "productive year."
While I liked Mirrorcle World, I felt like that was a warning that she was getting to that point - yes Mirrorcle World is good, and Life is even better, but both of them give me the impression that she had to squeeze her creative juices to make them. And I half suspect, although I have absolutely no proof, that due to the way Life sounds, the song was originally written some time before and only recorded now. I seriously reminds me of Heartplace from RAINBOW..
Anyway, if Ayu has no new single, that of course means no new magazine or TV promotion. It's a shame but her burning out musically leads to silence on the promotion front. I suspect she's been writing a lot of lyrics over the last few months and the new single is the result of her finally being satisfied with the product - the 10th anniversary has little to do with its release.
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