I rarely ever share her music with friends or any other musicians for that matter. I get too scared to hear what they have to think. >.< Music is really intimate for me.

I have had some friends though who I shared Ayu with, one in particular, and she always impressed by the intensity of her lyrics and her awesome attire. (especially in her performance of "Because of You" from CDL 05-06...she liked the entire thing.)

The best experience I ever had was with someone I was becoming romantically involved with. The first time we went out for sushi, I ended up speaking of Ayu. He was really engaged by what I was saying about her, and my experience of saving all my money to go see her after graduation. I never played him any of her music, and months went by. Anyways, one night he flew back to the city to spend the weekend with him. I was in the bathroom, brushing my teeth I believe, him in the living room. Suddenly, I begin to hear music - a vaguely familiar melody that made my ears perk up immediately. I said to myself, "wait... Is that... No, it can't be. ... Is that ... Ayu??" I walk out and see him just casually sitting on the couch, looking at me. I ask him, "what is this?" He doesn't say a word. I continue walking over to the iPad he has hooked up to his surround sound system in his high rise New York City flat. Upon reaching the iPad, I see there is a small playlist of Ayu's music. Originally, I thought he had gotten into my iPod and randomly picked a song; but as it turned out, he had independently search iTunes and purchased tracks by her during out time apart. He told me he chose songs that interested him, and that the time had to be right to spontaneously play them. I was floored. Never in my life had I experienced someone take such an authentic interest to my own interests like that. Completely unpressured, unprovoked. During that moment in time, I felt the most love I have ever felt in my 27 years of existence.

I remember reading about your experience some time ago, definitely a moment of jealousy for me!! If only such thing happens to me, I always love to show off Ayu because she's just too amazing

This is amazing. Thanks for sharing with us. :heart

Do you remember which song it was?
I can relate, the guy i'm in love with (who's also my ex because we've been together 3 times lmao) knows how much i'm into Ayu but never bothered to get the know the story I have with her or even listen to her a little. And that hurts me because to me if he's not even remotely interested in my "story" with her, it's like he doesn't care about me AT ALL. :no
Before him i had some kind of an ~internet love~ with a guy who was a complete a**hole but at least he genuinely tried to get to know Ayu and my other favorite artists so this is making things even worse, almost feels like this ass cared and loved me more than my current love :dead2

Your story is so beautiful :love I'm glad to hear that there still people like him out there.

I recently watched an Ayu concert with my boyfriend. I never tried to make him into Ayu before since he is listening to some kind of Rock music and German Hip Hop Bands and already told me that he can't stand J-Pop oder K-Pop music at all. Anyway, we watched the concert (completely from the beginning to the end!) and he was really impressed. He said that her music is not his kind of thing (except for Sexy little things which he listens to from time to time in the morning while sitting in the bus :D) but he likes her show in general and he said that he would not be bored at all if he went to a concert of her. He also said that he can understand why I'm into her that much and that's all I want :)

That's great! I'm so happy I can show all her new music videos and performances from concerts to my husband. He's not a fan but he recognizes the songs already and actually was quite obsessed with Sayonara last year :yes I also LOVE those performances with English subtitles on YouTube because they really show how great of a lyricist she is. It makes the performances even more touching.

The first song on the playlist, the one I heard while in the bathroom, was "For My Dear..."

Others included LOVE 〜Destiny〜, fairyland, Moments, Who...

They were downloaded from A COMPLETE

The guy had taste on top of it :P

The closest I've come to this was once with a guy who looked Ayu up after I wouldn't shut up about her. He comes up to me the next day, saying that he likes her too.
I ask if he listened to her, and which song of hers he looked up. His response?

Butterfly x_x


I wanted to die....

My ex-fiance was an avid hater of Ayu and anything Jpop. He loathed her, and how much money I spent on her and how much I loved her. He refused to understand why she meant to much to me. It's not the reason we broke up but I'm so happy we're not together anymore. He would bitch about Ayu to his friends and if they ever came over they would laugh at the posters I had up in my room, one even called her an ugly slut and they all laughed about it. :shakehead

I'm happy to see other people can share their love of Ayu with their partners/friends though. And thank you for sharing your story Zeke. :)

I even met my husband just because of Ayu^^ Through a German Ayu Forum^^

Who does stuff like that?! That is so awful!!!

@MessiahofSilence- dude, that sounds sooooooo annoying. I still go nuts about that misconception.

Omg! That is a good story though. Haha.

"I like her too."
*Turns out it's a completely different artist*

Did you inform them that it wasn't her?

That story is really cool Zeke! I love reading everyone else's stories too- keep em coming!

The only Ayu-related story I have is when I met up with my best friend years after losing contact with her (pre-FB & and I didn't have a mobile!), I'd not long got into JPop so was probably pushed it on people a bit lol. (miss)understood was Ayu's most recent release and I showed my friends the PVs and she really loved Step You, Is This Love and Fairyland and she's not a huge music person.

She even changed her mobile ringtone to Is This Love which I thought was sooo cool!

Of all the songs on the tour DVD your boyfriend heard SayukiChoco and Sexy Little Things was the one he liked? I always figures for a non-JPop listening audience that would be song that would grate on them.

Oh my God, some people really have no life. It's alright to dislike an artist but to laugh at somebody because of it or even provoking someone is such a childish behavior. Well, be glad that you got rid of him! :no

Ah yes, some time ago my mp3 player was broken, so I borrowed his ipod and put some Ayu songs on it. When I gave it back to him I forgot to delete them and he listened to a couple of songs. I was also surprised that of all songs he liked Sexy little things the most but he said that it sounds different, the melody is catchy and it somehow got stuck in his mind :P We watched PREMIUM SHOWCASE btw, maybe I should force him to watch AT2010 with me next time...

How does it go when you're not agreeing over something Ayu does? :laugh
Six years ago i made a friend enjoy Ayu, she would always listen to About you and also downloaded a few songs (Voyage was in it) but it only lasted a few weeks and i think she totally forgot about her afterwards
When people ask me to put some Ayu songs (didn't happen that often, but sill) i always feel the need to play the most "westernized" songs of hers (or even remixes) so that they can lowkey enjoy it and don't laugh at me.

Is there a live report of someone of the 1999 secret live? I know there's no footage released except for some short clips but is there some sort of report?

Summer Diary >>>> Winter Diary

I have a one page article from a magazine somewere floating in my clippings folder. I will scan all this clippings when I feel better (have 2 operations in the near future) and maybe someone can translate it then^^




@attractive nausea
I think that never happened, I at least could not remember xD And we are together now since 2003^^

wow, you're really lucky. how often does this happen. is he also a member on ahs?

Nope, at least not active. There is an account here at AHS with his usal Username that wasn´t online since 2007. I just asked him if that´s his account and he was like "uhmmm I don´t remember" xD
He is not rly active on Ayu News an such because I do all this stuff and tell him anyways^^

So taskinst uses a sample of another song? I never knew that. O.o

My favorite interlude will always be tasking. It's fabulous~ :heart

I'd have put their asses oh their places tbh

Hey guys, just wondering if anyone can help me. I'll be going to Japan for a year in September and plan on going to CDL 2016-2017 (assuming there is one), and any other concerts this year if they are after September. So my question is, by what date would it be necessary to join TA? As I would like to enter into the ticket lotteries for when I'm in Japan but I'm saving for the year abroad and haven't got money to spend on it at the moment...:( Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

They usally anounce the last date of joining for entering the ticket lotterie.

Back when, Liar was like...my favorite Ayu song. I would listen to it over and over again and then something hit me and I thought it was lame.

And now that I finally own My Story, I love it again. I just love the lyrics and her voice. Another more mellow rock-influenced song of hers that I adore is It Was. Those two songs would be great live, though I know the chances of that are pretty slim...>.>

Liar is seriously so good. I never get tired of it. I like It Was a lot too.

I LOVE Liar. love love love, they will pry it from my cold dead hands, etc

Yeah. Not cool. The first time my ex made fun of Ayu (he said she sounded like a deaf person trying to sing), I didn't even think twice before giving a blank stare and telling him our relationship would be over if he ever did that again. And he didn't.

If A BEST 3 is happening, and if my calculations are correct, Ayu has to pick about 16/32 songs (depending on whether we get 1CD or 2CD - maybe even 3CD?) out of 134 songs (Secret - Sixxxxxx, and this count doesn't include Winter Diary, Dream ON, SEVEN DAYS WAR, etc.).

I know we'll primarily be getting single/PV given tracks, but I do wonder what she will choose overall, and which albums will be more present.

maybe into A BEST 3 she'll include songs released after latest best compilation - A SUMMER BEST

vogue is really awesome and totally different sounding than anything I've really come across from ayu. Ughh she always writes such beautiful lyrics.

I'm in love with SCAR right now. Once it comes up on by chance, I have to keep it on repeat. The song is gorgeous.

^I'm playing the Duty album and SCAR is on right now. ;)

Speaking of DUTY i love her laugh at the beginning of girlish

^ +1. Love girlish!

I love SCAR! I realized some time ago that I have never really listened to monochrome before. Then it got all this praise from AHS and I finally listened to it. Now I'm playing it over and over again :D

that thing at the end of monochrome with that door closing and somebody stopping the song is so intriguing to me idk why it adds this mystery to it, and ofc the song is awesome haha I agree on that

I agree! I especially fell in love with the song when people on the forum pointed this out in combination with the last line she sings!
Ayu says "Because I'm so strong" and the door closes, someone says "yeah right". That voice that puts her down when she tries to make herself feel better, it's such a small detail but it can put the song in a different perspective.

^ My own analysis was that the premise was that she had sent the song to her ex-boyfriend/lover on a disc, and he had listened to her words and cut them off having heard enough, muttering 'yeah right' and never listening to it again, as in she was telling the truth about her feelings but he didn't think so as they obviously didn't translate into actions and he wouldn't be waiting for her because of that.

It really is a self-depreciating track. She was harsh on herself, young Ayu. :heart

I am still praying that Ayu will make a full force album with tracks that mainly has 80s vibes mixed with modern sound and rock. Perhaps a sister album of (miss)understood. Ladies Night, Until that day, what else? I love her songs that sounds madonna would have done decades ago lol

Speaking of Madonna, it would be cool if Ayu released songs like the songs on Rebel Heart. I am deeply in love with that album. It's just so... flawless to me. I was totally uninterested in her music when MDNA was released (there were other reasons too but I won't list them here). I would like to see a song called "Bitch I'm Ayumi Hamasaki" on her next album lol. I know some people would roll their eyes or shake their heads and think this would never happen but I personally wouldn't be surprised at all if a song with that title is released someday lol.

I also think that if Ayu started to release erotic songs, this fandom would meltdown and never get back on their feet.

A Song for XX has been coming back lately. I think the A BEST version is my favorite, followed by the Millenium Mix on LOVEppears disc two.

^^ My Way is already kinda Bitch, I'm Ayumi xD

I just got A Song for XX in the mail after all these years of wanting it. :) So happy.

Love Songs will be coming in the mail any day. I've been adding to my collection SO slowly due to insufficient funds. Now there's just Party Queen, LOVE again, Colours, A One, and Sixxxxxx left in terms of studio albums...

as for singles... I have none. XD

A BALLADS version of A Song for xx will always kill other versions of that song. It's that awesome.

But it's not a part of Ayu's discography. It was written by the guys from m-flo. Plus Ayu's parts aren't even bitchy enough to be called her Bitch I'm Ayumi Hamasaki song. :p

Of course they are. Her entire bit is basically no one can imitate my style, better not even try, I'm the queen, etc.

God I love that song

This is bitchy as fuck xD

My Way only goes into that direction, yes, but it's still pretty tame compared to some other bitchy songs I've heard. They are more fierce than what My Way is musically. Plus it would be awesome to see a "Step Aside Bitches I'ma Show Ya How It's Done" type of title on a Ayu album tracklist. :D

the song Present makes me think of some kind of old anime ending theme. XD Kind of like "Princess Moon" from Sailor Moon.

The A Song for xx album is such a gem. Loooove SIGNAL and As if...

The Millenium Mix is my favourite!

Maybe it's just me, but am I the only who doesn't care if Ayumi makes songs with "meaning" anymore? I mean I know her lyrics are a big part of her but ... I just don't really "need" her to be this artist filled with symbolism and thought provoking videos. I dunno. Maybe it's because I'm not some angsty teen anymore who feels misunderstood XD

^But isn't COLOURS full of songs with less meaningful lyrics? I mean, I can't really relate to any of those songs. :D

Exactly. and I really enjoyed that album haha Which is why I'm not opposed to her going down that route but then A ONE and sixxxxx came out which I definitely liked, but I don't find myself listening to it much.

If she were to do a sequel to Colours, I'm all for it but I know there are a lot of people who are against the idea lol

^Not really though. Pray, NOW & 4EVA, Terminal, Merry-go-round are all pretty meaningful imo.

^ Angel too, I think it's a song for herself.

Yeah but those songs are "typical" Ayumi. (Perhaps not Merry-go-round). My point is, I realize I don't care much for her lyrics anymore or if her videos have any "hidden" meaning. And if she were to just release an upbeat/superficial/trendy album filled with "let's dance. have fun. lose control." type of lyrics, I really wouldn't mind anymore whereas in the past, I probably would have commented on her "lack of originality". Just a passing thought I had when I was going through her music lol

I feel like it's the opposite, i'm still in my teenage years (well i'm 19 so i'm almost done but still) and i don't care if Ayu makes songs and PVs without deep meaning like she used to in the past, because i love both. But i think most of the fans who say she's not deep/original anymore, are mostly "old" fans (as in "been following her for a long time") in their late 20's.

I'm 27 years old and still find her to be pretty meanful, even more than she did in the past in some aspects (her performances from 2010, 2011 to here are really making use of the theatrics to add depth instead of just looking cool), but she is dealing with subjects that are more adult, so they aren't as intense or as passionate as they were when she was dealing with her teen angst. But I can relate more to them now than I can with her older stuff.

Heartplace is such a fantastic song. I crave this from Ayu, I really miss that organic rawness she brought to all her angstier songs. It was/is so powerful.

I was listening to FRIEND and FRIEND II while trying to decide which I prefer, and I must say they are surprisingly catchy. The background melody that repeats in FRIEND II is really neat, but I like the almost R&B sound FRIEND has (don't know if that's the right genre to compare it to XD).

I can easily say though after listening to a good deal of ASFXX, LOVEppears is such a step up in quality and intensity. And then there's Duty which goes even more beyond. Her progression is highly impressive between these three albums! :D Duty is still such a great album. I might not say it's my #1 favorite, though I listen to it nonstop, but I will often times say that I think it may be her best album. That's a hard statement to make, though!

It is a really great song!! I love it a lot and would love to hear something that goes in this direction again. The way her voice sounds makes it so powerful and I agree that you can hear how raw it is!
I also really love how that raw feeling is reflected in the instrumentation; it sounds kind of metallic in a way(,almost like something is missing); it's great!!



It took me a while to appreciate the first two albums and I'm still kind of so-so about LOVEappears as an album, but I agree. To me, she really tried to step it up all the time and that's why Duty is one of my favorite albums even now. Although one of the few songs I really hate is on it (AUDIENCE why do you exist?! Why on this album?!).
I don't think I could personally say that Ayu has a best album. I guess I'm too biased to see her works neutrally but of course I have albums I prefer over others.

I think I am the only person who genuinely loves this song. I think it seemed more like a song that would've been on LOVEppears, though.

I didn't understand the hype about LOVEppears before but now I think it's superb. It's intense!

I LOVE AUDIENCE. Seriously, the Dome Tour performance of it when she arrives on a motorcycle is one of my favourites. It's like classic Ayu for me haha. :love

I like AUDIENCE too. I think it was in the first handful of Ayu songs I heard actually. Idk it's cute and fun.

If anything, Girlish is the weak point of Duty.
Them nasal ass vocals x___x

Girlish is a fun song in my opinion, I don't mind it and actually like it but I can see how some might not enjoy it.

I know quite a lot of people like Audience, the dome tour performance of it was cute, but I just can't stand the song. There are only a few songs I don't like at all and it's one of them :/

I really love AUDIENCE.

Girlish is an awesome song. It has somehow a lot of soul in my opinion. :D

This, i also rly love this song, especially as Duty was my 1st Ayu Album^^

Girlish is so underrated !!! I love everything about it ! even her forced nasal voice I feel a lot of emotions in her voice =)

okay but she just tweeted me and i'm having a meltdown!

^ omg are you the pub tweet? I DIED.


I am READY TO GO as soon as she says where she is. All my Ayu stuff is at my mum's but I've got her posting stuff next day delivery tomorrow already LOL

Ughhhh I am DYING

yes that's me haha! i am SO PERCHED to meet her, i'm definitely doing it too. we should find her together!

^ I'm with you guys! So excited that she's in London!

And lol it's so cool that she replied to you fanmail.

I am so jealous! Such a good reply too. I wanna drink with Ayu~

I am refreshing Twitter like crazy, I know it won't be tonight (she needs some time without us all crowding around her hotel oops) but I am READY as soon as she tells us where!!

Can't wait to meet all the UK and EU fans (again too!)

Oh God, I waited to meet Ayu last time she was in London but didn't get to see her. DO you think she is staying at Claridge's again?

would she actually post the name of her hotel? did she do that last time?

either there or the Langham. based on the photo i would say Claridge's.

We need another photo. That one could be anywhere central. :( Might just go hang about Claridge's tomorrow if we don't hear anything. Stalker mode go~

I saw her for RnRC but not Party Queen, waited ages but it was the day she was ill. :(

edit: I don't think she ever said, but she posted obvious photos?

omg please keep me/us posted! what's your twitter? i feel a 'sick day' at work coming on.

And again I can´t go to London to see her....
I have a surgery next week and have preperation for it this weekend ><
Ayu has such an imperfect timing *sits in a corner crying*

Hahaha I'm an unemployed bum right now sooo... Something to do?

This is my twitter, I usually keep it private but I've taken that off for now, so hopefully things show up from now.

I'm going to wait until morning, see if we get anything else from her and go from there. It's too cold and wet to just hang around outside. :(

OMG I want to go to London and see her.

haha i feel that! sounds like a good plan! hopefully she's here for a good amount of time. followed you btw.

OMG that is soooo cool! It would be great to go to a pub with Ayu! I like how she is getting back into Twitter again!

I hope you guys get to meet her! Can't wait to read all your stories!

I think last time Ayu stayed at Claridges, they replaced a bath for her! So if it is still there, maybe she would go back to her jacuzzi bath??

omg http://www.churchofpop.net/uploads/emoticons/ny3.gif queen

Yeah, I think it was mentioned on a BBC 1 show about Claridges?

Yes! Here, starting at 34:50 :)

Is the jacuzzi bath her demand or the staff's present to her?

Why is it that Trust never gets old for me? I have these specific songs of hers that I've loved for years and years. They're always awesome in my mind. I guess I think of them as the foundation to my Ayu fandom. ^_^ You know how certain songs are just special to some of you even?

For me those songs are:
-Depend on You
-Two of us
-Trust
-And then
-Monochrome
-ever free
-Far Away
-Connected
-Naturally
-Daybreak
-Real Me
-Ourselves
-Liar
-It was
-GUILTY
-GREEN
-Pieces of seven

(I kind of put older ones in a different catatgory for some reason...like, they just haven't been around long enough for them to feel like they're a firm part of my fandom, if you know what I mean)
-Do it again
-Virgin Road
-Ivy
-Song 4 U
-Sweet scar
-Lelio

Trust was never a song I obsessed over, but last year I fell in LOVE with the new vocal / mix version on A BEST. She sings the chorus with so much ATTITUDE. I think it's miles better than the original.

i love Trust, it's my fave from A Song for ×× really. i hope she performs it someday

I only dislike Trust, because of the vocals. I would not mind if Ayu decided to re-record it right now.

I love Trust - it's all about that guitar solo!

Listened to RAINBOW whilst I was journeying a long way yesterday. It's one of my favourite Ayu albums to drive along too, along with MY STORY, NEXT LEVEL and LOVEppears. Anyone else have any favourite driving albums?

The song RAINBOW is soooo underrated that it's criminal. It builds up perfectly, increasing in intensity till the end where it finishes so strongly. It has such a dreamy quality, her vocals are nice and soft, the PV is amazing, I love it.

^ IA, everything about RAINBOW is flawless.

I love the Eurobeat Remix of Trust from the ayu-ro mix album