the first person i ever listened to (and enjoyed) was utada hikaru, but she didn't get me into j-pop really. i didn't bother to look up anyone else when i found out who she was. i guess that was still 'discovering' it tho lol.
koda kumi - i heard koi no tsubomi and get up & move!! (and laughed hysterically at the engrish) on a playlist on some website, i liked them but i forgot about them and never looked into her other music. a while after my friend was introducing asian music to me and the first j-pop singer he showed me was kuu. i've loved her ever since.
emi hinouchi - my friend showed me the video for goodie memories but i didn't really like it. a month or two afterwards i downloaded dramatiques and loved it.
miliyah kato - i was searching for music and downloaded her album diamond princess. i loved last summer but i didn't really like the rest of her music, however she grew on me.
ayumi hamasaki - i'm not sure how i found her, but i thought she was adorable. i decided to listen to some of her music and ended up finding blue bird and evolution. i liked blue bird but i thought evolution was awful. i avoided the rest of her music for a long time, but now i enjoy it for the most part.