Are Japanese people surprised that you listen to Ayu?
 

Of course talking about Ayu to a Japanese person is the best way to bore them in my experience but in all cases they all seemed to be really surprised. I was wondering if anyone here has had any funny experiences or stories regarding this.

bore them? why? is the one of the best "things" from Japan: manga, anime, japanese food, ayumi hamasaki... they are lucky!!

And yes, they seem surprised when they know I listen to her. They seem to know all the songs I sing from ayu, so that is nice! Of course, ayumi is the greatest female musician in Japan.

Yeah, all the Japanese people I know were surprised when I told them I liked Ayu. Namie brought about better responses though. I'd always get an "Amuro san kawaii ne?" or "kakkoi ne~?" with her.

I feel like they think I'm an old woman when I tell them I like Ayu (same with MISIA). I usually just mention I like the trendy, popular stuff like AKB48 or Shoujo Jidai, which I do love anyways.

^aww haha yea I was talking to some japanese people (in japanese so we had a very basic conversation)
and i told them i love ayu san and they were like omg no way us too and like got excited :P

I mention ayu only when I notice they are fans of her too, otherwise Im not too bothered to share my love lol. Same with non-japanese also, I try not to annoy people cause when I start talking about stuff I love thats endless story and I get so excited and yeah... lol

Yeah I'm like that aswell. I'm surprised my girlfriend hasn't murdered me yet.

I've only ever met some non-Japanese fans over here. Which is still exciting as practically no one knows her over here. Never met a Japanese fan, though :P

my boyfriend(s) had to love her. it's an obligation lol, I convert them in ayu fans haha...
not that its my intention, its just, when someone is around me so often they hear me
talking about her, its funny like in serious conversation Im like 'ayu, sorry for mentioning her, would say...' LOL and they got interested why im so excited and ofcourse I show them every aspect of her music lol and they can't not like it.. Im embarassed 'cause I act like a child when ayu is releasing new music and everyone knows it around me...

Its funny when boyfriend one time got mad me at me and told me instead of leave, get out, leave me alone whateva he said 'go listen to ayu and then come back'

LOL

I think it's their normal reaction :laugh

Haha :) Now THAT's an ayu fan. Very similar to how I act, actually, when Ayu is releasing new music and how I talk about her around friends :laugh

Not really, but once I had a funny thing happen to me on last.fm. Ayu is my most played artist and I'm from Denmark. Then I met a japanese girl on there, who's top artist was a danish artist! :P We both thought that was a bit funny.

But no, so far no one's been surprised really.

My Japanese friend thinks she's strong for continuing her career despite being deaf in one ear, that's about it. He wasn't really surprised I was a fan. He was more surprised I'm a Koda Kumi fan because she's so "unpopular." Maybe in his area? I don't know.

^I think Koda is unpopular in general :laugh


I've met Japanese people in real life that were like "how do you know about Ayu O_o"

online...not really. Most of the Japanese people I know are from here.

My japanese friends were all surprised when i named Ayu the first time..and nobody was particularly enthusiastic about it.

When I had japanese classes, there were japanese exchange students coming in once in a while. One time I had my cell phone resting on my desk and I had a cell phone strap and a rhinestone sticker with Ayu's logo on it.

When they saw it they all said "AYU!!!" with big round eyes and surprised expretions! Lol It was cute!

Then went on to ask me tons of questions, how I know her, what's my favorite songs, if I know her for a long time, etc.

Most of them knew the older songs though. Back then, GUILTY had just come out and none of them knew about it. But they could sing along to evolution really well. Lol

Yes they are surprised. When I told them I loved Ayumi Hamasaki, they were amused. They did not really know that she was that international, even though she had been to London and Paris before (by that time I asked them, Ayu was in LA for Love Songs)
But it was fun. Too bad they just only know her. They did not care much about her.

I've lived in japan three times now and peopel are always shocked I know any j-pop, let alone that I know 100x more than them in general lol (Music is my biggest hobby, I will just read articles on generasia all day, ha) I tell my students/coworkers that I like AYu and they're like "oh, okay", lol. But if I say I like Namie or Koda it's like breaking a damn and it's instant "OMG ME TOO SOOOO KEWL" time. Actually the artist that gets the most disdain is usually GACKT. most japanese people I've met turn their noses at that, lol.

EDIT: oh a story. Well I used to be bffs with a Japanese exchange student on my college campus. She knew I loved ayu but was indifferent herself. But she knew I owned a lot of her concert DVDs and would come by my room when she was bored/really depressed (becauses of her awweesssoooome boyfriend) and watch them to cheer herself up, ha.

Oh.. I also know it. When I told an japanese friend, I like Ayu... or Onitsuka Chihiro or Kokia... the all surprised. By the way.. most of them don't know Kokia.
So.. I sometimes know more about J-pop than a Japanese friend. Most of my friends from Japan don't listen to J-Pop. I always wondering.
Oh.. when I told a friend once, that I really like Ayu.. she told me, Ayu isn't so popular in Japan any more. Some years ago, it was more. She also told me the reason... because Ayu isn't so cute as in her beginning any more.
I totaly couldn't understand it. I don't care her cuteness.. I care her Music.

Recently, I met a Japanese exchange student who didn't speak great English. He went on my club retreat without knowing many people, so I offered him a seat in my car with my friends. Conversation was failing, so I gave him my iPod and told him to pick something (it was deliberately set on an Ayu song). He was absolutely thrilled that I had so much Japanese music and instantly went for Ayu, Yuna Ito, and aiko. My other friends were confused, but I felt so good for being able to make a connection. :D

my japanese teachers are fans of ayumi. they're so cute. :P but usually when i'm with Japanese people my age (college-age), i talk about idols or whoever is most popular at the moment. LOL. she's respected within the younger generations from what i've gathered, but she's not really the talk of the conversation. more people are surprised when i bring up Arashi, haha.

however, at the times i've been at karaoke with Japanese people, "Greatful days" is a really popular song to sing. :)

I come from a town that's a big tourist attraction. Many Japanese come during spring and fall. And always get surprised to see me wearing my CD 10-11 ~do it again~ t-shirt! Same when I tell them I'm a huge fan of Ayu's. Some actually even talk with me and listen to a few songs. I remember when Moon leaked last year, I was walking my dog and a Japanese couple (around 25yo) approached and asked if they could take a photo of the dog (white swiss shepherd). When I heard them talking to eachother in Japanese, I started talking in Japanese too. They were shocked when I started talking and asked how I knew Japanese. Then I let them hear Moon and the guy was so happy! He said he was an Ayu fan too :D!

quite agree with you on that... especially some japanese ppl don't think ayu is so popular just coz she is not so cute as her 20 or 21 sth...

it is also easily understood that why ayu's music sales are bought less... the real reason is most of the japanese ppl don't really care j-pop singers' music but their look... i'm sure you know the Arashi and AKB48 things --- their music is rubbish

in china mainland there are still so many fans like ayu not just by her cuteness --- it's "ayu" to make us happy

when I mention them to Japanese people I meet, the first thing that they would say is that she's like the britney spears of Japan and very popular..then the next thing they would mention is her plastic/cosmetic surgery. :shrug

lol you sure have succeeded in converting them..:yes

I don't really meet much japanese people.. Once my japanese teacher asked for our idols in class, so I said ayu but she wasn't that surprised.. think she take my age into account the era blah blah? Coz later the next guy answer AKB, and my teacher said 'oh yeah i know them coz my son likes'

How I wish to meet a japanese ayu friend, especially if that friend goes back to japan regularly and maybe can ask to help me buy her things:lech

Yeah they get really supriced. And then they try to tell me that she released a new single last summer and I'm like "Yeah I know" and then they get really supriced and continue "WOW you're such a huge fan!" Haha.

And just like the others. I often know more about j-pop than them and they often want to tell me about why ayu isn't popular anymore. :P

Haha my boy-o said he got really interested in me when he saw my huge intrerest for Ayu. He says that is what makes me different and he could see clearly how passionate I could get over things. Now he really don't enjoy pop or anything near it but he saw only goos qualities in my Ayu fandom.

^
that's really cute :D

Anyway a couple of years ago, I had some japanese penpals friends and we talked about music.
Most of them knew Ayu but just for her classic songs as SEASONS. They said she was really cute. One of them was a huge fan of Ayu like me. And she was kinda surprised and shocked at the same time knowing that I was italian and I knew Ayu so well.

A few years ago I told a Japanese transfer student in my class at College that I loved Ayumi Hamasaki's music and she told me that she loved her song M. I remember wondering if she liked any recent Ayu songs.

My ex's friends' wife was born and raised in Japan... she knew who Gackt was, but not Ayu... :irked

Why? I never really understood why she is..

Next time some Japanese is trying to tell you, why Ayu isn't that popular anymore, let them know that decreasing sales might be an indication for her music to become even better than before since, regarding sale statistics, it apparently is no longer mainstream~ish enough for shallow listeners :lech

From experience of hanging around at concerts, I think some Japanese people are surprised foreigners go to her shows. Although every year I go it seems that more and more are attending.

Maybe Ayu herself making the overseas fans more visible, and that whole Under the Same Sky thing showed the general public she has a decent-sized fanbase outside of Japan.

My aunt is a casual fan, and she is quite young! She was surprised, only because she didn't think that people in America listened to Ayu :laugh

When I brought up Ayu, she mostly just said that she remembers singing karaoke to SURREAL when she was in high school.

yeah i got several japanese classmates last year, when i told them about Ayu,they were like no feeling and like "ohhh..ayu" and of course i know more about Ayu than them lol, they told me they didnt listen to Jpop much :thud like what? i think Jpop is great :thud i would love to have Ayu in my country :o and it seems they dont really care about her and for them she didnt popular anymore :headache


i dont understand,isnt Ayu outstanding enough to japanese people to recognize her? dont they remember her as a legend or what? she's got over million albums sold and achieved so many in her over 10 years career =.=

I have never asked any of the japanese people at school or wherever but whenever I'm in the subway (or metro) and I browse through tracks with my phone, these japanese / korean / chinese people keep looking at the screen. (I hardtag all of my songs so they have the right cover art and my phone's screen is kinda big; SGII)

In the other class there is this girl who is Mongolian (if I am correct) and she recognized ayumi (Love songs album cover) and she was like; "OMFG you aren't even Asian, gothic or weird and you listen to JAPANESE POP OMFG". <- that was such a stereotypic *****. lol

However when I tell my family about my obsession with J-Pop or just my favorite artist being a Japanese woman, they react like "what?! lol r u srs?". When I was on vacation in South America I introduced them to ayumi hamasaki and they were like, "Is this what they listen in Japan? It's too high pitched for me / All of the words end with either A, I, O, E or U / Is that videogame music? " .... And such.

As I stayed there I plugged my phone (which I use as music device) to the stereo, so they were forced to listen. They eventually said that they really like some songs of her but also really hate some. (They loved M, and my 8 year old niece loved Bold and Delicous <the Yayayaya Gagagaga Dadadada Wowowowow part XD)

Even my uncle came to me and said "Hey send me this song". I felt so proud!!!
~

When I introduce ayumi to my friends they all react like they want nothing to do with her. They just don't like it. And when I force them to listen they are like "......" and then they look at me and laugh ..... >.<

^Damn! It should be annoying to be around you without liking Ayu xD Hahaha!


@AyuWorld
I'm pretty sure there's someone as legendary to the people from your country that u don't give a damn about xD

Well... There's a Japanese exchange student in my school and I asked, "浜崎あゆみ、分かる？(Do you know Hamasaki Ayumi?" and she said "Yes" and I shared, "She's my favorite Japanese singer and she's also my idol" and her reaction was "Oh~ Ayumi is.. hmmm... dangerous" and I was like "HUH? How so?" and she said that in Japan Ayumi considered a "bad girl" and I was SHOCKED!! WTF!!! but IDK... that might be one person point of view~

Hmm... She wasn't shock that I know/listen to Ayu but it's totally opposite!!! I was shocked of how some Japanese think of Ayu O.O

^ a bad girl? That's...odd. I wonder why they think that?

may be ayu coloring her hair...
lol..
in asian region coloring your hair is an indication that u r a bad boy/girl...

Well... considering the content on some of her videos and songs (that aren't that much for western standarts, but pretty edgy for a mainstream female popstar in Asia), her constant troubles with authority, the way she puts her career over everything else and some of her early interviews, this is not surprising...

Ayu is far far away from the japanese image of how a ideal woman should be...

Woah, didnt know how Japanese people thought of her this way. I am soo jealous of them, her concerts , CDs and merchandise are soo readily available for them. i think they are just sick of her, seeing her everyday during her peak was probably enough. Doesnt make her special anymore. But i feel in Asia and everywhere else, Ayu is the most popular J-pop solo female artist, the rest like utada, namie , koda kumi are rarely talked abt. Maybe just like what her lyrics suggested in Moments "What you adored looked beautiful to you
It became even brighter because you couldn't reach it" XD

Yeah they usually get surprised, and curious of how I first heard of her :3

idk but most Japanese people I met on twitter are like this when they realized I listens to Ayu
"oh I like Ayu/she's good, but I prefer Namie/Tohoshinki/*insert random artist name here* a lot more..
perhaps they're just being polite ? idk

people know her from Singapore but arnt really her fans. or..most of my friends arnt. So...even j-pop itself seems like a surprising thing to be listening to amongst the k-pop fandom. So..i know my taste is different and I like it that way. at times, I'll play Ayu songs for them to hear...but...well, i get no reaction. except for a few songs that probably catch their ear

I was talking to a girl in class, she's not Japanese she's Korean, but when she found out I was an Ayu fan (I was reading the Deji Deji diary book) she was like, "Oh..." She told me she thinks Namie is better but she gives Ayu credit for being light years better than Koda Kumi who is apparently a skank.

yea today, my friend, has japanese exchange students, and there very happy that i knew of ayu