She must feel so happy and satisfied that she pulled it off without anyone realizing, and honestly it's pretty amazing with all of the constant attention, and a huge staff/dancers not letting it slip.

Right. I can't imagine what that announcement was like. Lol. Like they call everyone in a room and she say "I'm pregnant." The shock and celebration that must have unfolded thereafter!

This will shortly be a reality:

^ that, plus "if you tell anyone you're fired".

I don't think a "suspecting" would even be in anyone's minds, that's the last thing you'd think about in her case lol she's so busy doing stuff and touring it almost sounds impossible to keep stuff like that out of public eye. :tired Like i legit wanna know HOW she pulled this trick off lol

I came looking for CDL clips and i ended up finding a "baby is here" announcement when we didn't even know there was a pregnancy, that's enough internet for me today :roflmao

Arama has caught wind of the news. Ayumi Hamasaki Becomes a Mother

I know. This was such a successful fake out, other celebrities should take note haha. I thought maybe she used a surrogate, but the post was very clear she actually gave birth. But it's true, smaller women don't necessarily show until late term, and I have several friends who had kids and went back to looking stunning right after. Like you would never have thought they had just had a baby. Some people can do that, whether it's genetics, keeping fit, strategic choice of clothes etc.

^ if you look back at what she's been wearing for the past months, yeah. It makes sense. She's been super chill and kept this under wraps REALLY well lol

I guess none of us have seen this one before but here's an article from late November. Apparently the photos were taken on November 8. You can definitely see that she's hiding it here. Oh, and it seems Pei was with her!
https://jisin.jp/entertainment/enter...-news/1800847/

You can see the other photos (there are 4 overall) by clicking on the pink button.

^ Yeah, it's easier to see in hindsight for sure. To be fair, Namie re-worked Say the Word, she wrote the lyrics with special meaning for her son, and it's one of my favorite songs from her, she's played it on so many tours. I honestly wouldn't be that worried. Ayu is a master of creating lyrics with multiple meanings, so while she could totally could be referring to her son, I don't think she'll change her writing style. Plus we've had plenty of emotional (real or fake crying) performances throughout the years, if she gets sentimental during a show nobody would really notice the difference I don't think.

EDIT: If you're looking for it, you can definitely tell in that photo...is that Pey carry the basket?

Happy for here, best wishes for the future mom. :)

99% sure it's him.

The father could be Pey...dancers are not celebrities and just regular people with access to celebrities. Ayu loves messing with people she works with too.

i think he most likely is the father. Given all the photos of them together. Wasn’t everyone saying that Ayu was banging Pei last year? And relative to Ayu, most people are non-celebrity. Though you could argue that her longest running/most famous dancers probably are well known enough that they’d be considered celebrity, like Subaru, Zin, Shuya. I mean, I kind of hope I’m wrong, but there’s enough circumstantial evidence for speculating about it.

^i'm just grabing onto straws here lol But if he is...god help her if people find out. lol

BTW she is trending on twitter in Japan now at #3, i guess it takes a secret baby to get her out in the actual spotlight nowadays...:D Honestly though? She should have released some music, and then broke the news, what a publicity stunt that would have been haha

I'm just in shock at how she kept this as a secret omg
But I'm so happy for her!! Hope she will have an amazing life with her son :heart

haha I’m thinking the exact same thing. Dating in the workplace is viewed very skeptically for a reason. That goes double for the entertainment industry. Personally I find it kind of off putting with an age difference that large. If she did have new music, this announcement would put her on top for sure. Truthfully, I couldn’t be happier for her. I’ve had a large smile plastered on my face ever since I saw the post, I’m genuinely thrilled for her.

^yeah i mean, if the guy was like 30 it probably wouldn't be that big of a deal even if it's someone from her staff, but now he's soooo much younger AND a dancer of hers as well. I mean on the positive side, she really didn't flaunt this relationship at all, which is good, but still, it would hit quite low if in some weird way people figured it out and i'm sure japanese folks have their speculations. Although unless she herself confirms it, it would just end up being a rumour for the rest of her career.

She totally should have used this publicity with some new material, what a missed opportunity haha
Now she's up on #2 AND #7 (i think, with a second hashtag) on twitter Japan. lol

^ oh absolutely. If this had happened while she was dating Maro, it wouldn’t be as big a deal because they’re in the same age range.

^ yeah, all i can say is, i hope (if it IS Pei) he's mature enough for this. Cuz oh boy lol

We don't know if he's going to be involved though. I mean, it's not like Ayu needs financial support from him or anything lol