[Article] "Why Japanese pop matters"

Originally Posted by Delirium-Zer0

The selection actually struck me as very deliberate - each one is a different possible stereotype, and they're definitely the best examples of each. You wouldn't put Koda Kumi or Amuro Namie on a list where Ayu already is, for example. And as far as women who actually have a hand writing their own songs, these are definitely the most talented and most legendary for the music they make. Hikki is the only person who should have been on here but wasn't, although having Ayu on there already as the straight-up pop singer would have made her slightly redundant.

Hamasaki's lyrics and delivery – she has an earnest, unpolished singing voice – project a vulnerability that makes her songs strangely endearing and her ballads occasionally touching.

Occasionally touching....Why does that strike a nerve?