Do you think Ayu is too westernized?

[Kikaru]

^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.

[pommy48]

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!

[ownsarai]

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.

[Yum!Fruit_Salad!]

Originally Posted by GRACE

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.

*Ai Ootsuka*

[Tom Punks]

Originally Posted by ストロボ・EdGE

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.

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.

[Kazeyomi]

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

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

[Ayumi27]

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

[Aisha_Angel]

Originally Posted by ストロボ・EdGE

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.

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.

[emi♡]

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.

[SURREAL__RAINBOW]

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

[evolution7931]

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.

[ren0210989]

Originally Posted by amorphose

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

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^^

[reixminako]

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.

[rainday]

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.

[Calico]

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.

[maikaru]

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~~

[PoetGirl]

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

[jbrat2219]

Originally Posted by maikaru

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~~

You said it Maikaru

[sugarbasil]

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 ). 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. 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.

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.

[Aga-chan]

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.