Ayu in Oriental Daily 20/9/05

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The first time to appear on a public radio show to promote the new single
Hamasaki Ayumi attracts 5000 fans
making the venue super crowded

the japanese pop queen hamasaki ayumi has become less popular in recent years. in order to boost the sales of the new single 'heaven', she put down her pride, going to tokyo, osaka & nagoya etc to promote the new single. she appears in a public radio show for the first time since she entered the showbiz in 1998. she is so hardworking!

the day before yesterday, ayu went to sapporo, hokkaido. she requested to go to sapporo on her own initiative, because she was absent from the performance in 'a nation' last month due to sickness. she fulfilled her promise that she would be back in sapporo, and throughout the show, she repeatedly apologised to fans for making them worry. she was cheerful throughout, and said hi to the fans with a friendly attitude. this improved the image of ayu for (the author), and (the author) almost wanted to go and buy her new cd immediately!

this is the first time that ayu goes to hokkaido to do promotion, apart from her tours. in order to see ayu, 5000 fans aggregated outside the radio station. compared to the previous record of 1200 fans gathreing to see GLAY, ayu had many times more fans. the authority had to especially deploy over 60 security guards to maintain order. the crowding of the situation is definitely even more than the snow festival in hokkaido. ayu's charm is certainly irresistable!

ayu's tactic to be close to fans is working very well indeed. despite the fact that she lost the #1 spot in the daily oricon's single chart to Johnny8, she easily claimed back the throne on the second day. (the author) says, it doesnt matter if a tactic is old, it is more important that the tactic works!