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Hikki releases so little yet she can still sell millions.
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Utada Hikaru has one of those things that the legendary artists/groups in Japan tend to have... a very large and ever-growing casual fan base. I'm not exactly sure why it's so resilient... she could probably release an album in 2011/2012 and still sell a million copies / sell millions of ringtones. I don't quite understand Utada Hikaru's appeal, even though she does make some great tracks... there are plenty of artists who do great work and don't even have a tiny sliver of the fame that Utada Hikaru does.
I suppose it's a miracle that Ayu is still able to hold her own in this age when so many artists from the 90s have fallen out of the spotlight (save for say, Namie or Utada) but she really obviously isn't even trying to gain new fans in Japan. It's kind of sad how little she does to try to sell her music/self to people, but I see why she might not want to...
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Well then yeah, these days it is extremely easy to be in the Top 10 yearly for female artists.
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Perhaps top 10 should be more like top 5 or top 3. It gets a little more difficult that way, and you separate the really low sellers (Ai Otsuka, BoA, and etc.) from the higher tier of sellers. And since 2000, Ayu has always appeared in the top 2 yearly for female artists, not always at the top, but very close. Yes, Ayu has always released a lot every year since then, but I still don't think that necessarily makes the fact that she's at the top 2 each year any less outstanding. It'd be like Tohoshinki fans talking about how they always get #1 only because their fan club has over a million members in Korea/around the world. I'm not saying that we should ignore the fact that she has so many releases each year, but it's like... isn't she just releasing at a similar rate to most other major label Japanese acts? A few singles, an album, and a DVD (or two)? Sure, ayaka had two singles and a best album, and that was all that she needed to get to the #10 / #2 female spot, but she's on hiatus now, so there's that too...
Ayu's placements in the yearlies for females since 2000:
女性アーティスト年間セールスTOP3
2000年
1位 217.5億 浜崎あゆみ (SEASONS 1,362,740 / Duty 2,603,550)
2001年
1位 243.7億 浜崎あゆみ (M 1,319,070 / A BEST 4,248,640)
2002年
2位 115.7億 浜崎あゆみ (『H（independent,July 1st,HANABI） 』 1,000,260 / I am… 2,301,020)
2003年
1位 105.2億 浜崎あゆみ （『＆（ourselves,Greatfuldays,HA NABI～ episode Ⅱ～) 591,481 / RAINBOW 1,856,919)
2004年
2位 *54.1億 浜崎あゆみ (INSPIRE／GAME 329,145 / Memorial address 1,059,534)
2005年
2位 *69.0億 浜崎あゆみ (STEP you／is this LOVE？ 345,340 / MY STORY 1,131,776) <- one album, four singles, two DVDs, one remix album (CLASSICAL)
2006年
2位 *68.9億 浜崎あゆみ (BLUE BIRD 258,566 / （miss）understood 877,433) <- two albums, two singles, two DVDs
2007年
2位 *70.5億 浜崎あゆみ (glitter/fated 166,203 / A BEST 2-WHITE- 716,582) <- two best albums, two singles, one DVD
2008年
１位 *7,188.1 浜崎あゆみ (ayu-mi-x 6, AT07, GUILTY, Mirrorcle World, CDL07-08, A COMPLETE)
2009年
1位 *9 *3,436 浜崎あゆみ (Days/GREEN, AT08, PCDL08-09, Rule/Sparkle, NEXT LEVEL, Sunrise/Sunset)
If you look at this timeline of her releases (
http://eneabba.net/ayu/disco/summary.htm) It becomes VERY obvious that she's releasing very lightly compared to pre-2006... though 2008 being her 10th anniversary year, more was released than usual.