Ayumi Hamasaki Sekai - [Scans] COOL January 2007 (Chinese)

This article was translated by Goku from ayunite
http://http://www.ayunite.net/forum/...ic.php?t=29806
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Ayu's Color

Blue - Sorrow
Being brought up by a workaholic mother, ayu was an independent girl. Ever since junior high, she dreamt of running away from school and family to live a free life by herself. Even after leaving her hometown and enlisting in high school, she did not wish to study, but worked hard everyday. Slowly, time passed, and her teenage days were filled with loneliness. "Everlasting separation leaves me feeling cold. I cannot bear walking to the end of everything like this..." Everyone has times in their youth when they are hesitant, but ayu remained true and firmly aware of her own feelings of loneliness.

Red - Passion
Slowly, she realized that living life by herself, though lonely, also brings much happiness to her. For example, she can easily hide away from her nagging manager to eat her favourite strawberry-flavoured POCKY. The days which she spent in New York having vocal lessons were the ones which really hooked ayu onto music. Under her producer's close scrutiny, ayu seamlesly merged illusion and reality and created a fashion that swept teenagers away. Her solid voice touched the hearts of many and made them fans. Going along with her rising popularity, ayu started to have passion and faith in her dreams. A dream come true overnight made ayu think that she is "nothing but a dream" herself.

Green - Gentleness
At the very beginning, she worried that no one will turn up for her concert and so could not lift her spirits up. But in her success, ayu slowly realized that the support from her fans was real and that she was not alone anymore. From then on, ayu's lyrics lost their sorrowful grey mood, and gained confidence and courage about the future: "It may be destiny or fate, but what harm is there in trying to change it?", and understanding and acceptance of love: "It doesn't matter how it will all end, I will never say goodbye."

White - Secretive
"If we understand everything, then the person will not be interesting anymore, and you will not want to try to advance your relationship with them. It is this that gives people a kind of attraction, that makes us care, that brings us together." The ayu on stage changes from a long-haired doe-eyed little girl to a stylish queen of pop, constantly changing her appearance. However, ayu is not afraid of being any colour, because the true her will never change, and she believes that she will remain true and "white" to herself always. The ayu in love wishes to become "someone which only he knows and understands".

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Ayu's Secret

JEWEL
In the PV, I was surrounded by these really shiny jewels... My body was even covered with them. Actually, JEWEL is a song filled with innocence and gentleness. As I sing "For your smile, I am willing to give everything. You are my precious treasure", I convey my feelings of love and of being loved, and that is very precious to me. For me, the ties of mutual support that bind my friends to me is my most precious treasure.

It was
Memories are usually good... But that is not always true. In reality, we have no real wish to return to the past, it is just that that particular moment is precious and irreplaceable to ourselves forever. I'm sure everyone has memories like this! Of course, it is not only memories of love. "Do not turn back, look ahead and run." But people are sure to hesitate sometimes, so it is OK if you don't feel confident about the future.

momentum
There are surely times when your feelings and actions contradict each other. For example, I love mango so much that I have to eat some everyday, even though I am allergic to it and will break into rashes... This goes to show the feeling in this song: of wanting to let go, but you just can't bear to let go.

Until that Day...
Even though I only started singing after my realization, I have already made my choices in life, even without really understanding myself. I have had the thought "Just give up!" cross my mind, but the "you" in this song was always there for the "me". Thinking of it, maybe the "me" in this song is very lucky indeed.

1 LOVE
This PV is awesome! It is a totally rocking world~ The lyrics convey the idea that "Since I chose this path myself, I should not regret it". It's got my style, hasn't it? 1 LOVE is my whole life. Not the action of love, but the idea of "love" itself.

kiss o' kill
Ever since I became an adult, I left behind many things. I also learnt things which I don't want to know. In order to protect myself, I unintentionally hurt someone else. 2 people, "Hamasaki Ayumi" and ayu, both exist in this world, together.

Secret
The present ayu seems as if she has just returned from a very long journey and rediscovered herself at the starting point. I found the "me" which just debuted, and the white "me" which has been with myself for as long as I've lived. How does everyone else see themselves? It will be hard if you just think about it from your side, look at yourself through someone else's eyes, and you will be able to find your true colour easily.

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Ayu's Past

I was already working by the time I entered high school. I spent my days working and seldom showed up for lessons. I even rented my own apartment in Tokyo, coming back to visit Fukuoka once in a while. Back then, I did not entertain any thoughts of achieving fame, but only wanted to work hard. I could not wait to leave the boring days of attending school, having fun with my friends and being home in time for dinner far behind. Even though I had no guarantee that this will become my proper job, I often felt that once I arrived in Tokyo, "there surely will be something" for me there.

I did not feel uncomfortable then, because I really wanted to become an independent adult. Ever since junior high, I have been saying that I will leave school and my family and come out to live by myself, therefore I was not hesitant at all about going to Tokyo alone. I still clearly remember that the first apartment I rented was at Gotanda (五反田)! My colleague helped me find it, and my life in Tokyo started there at Gotanda! The distance from the bus station to my apartment was really long, and I had to walk this long distance everyday to work. I was so used to it that I can even walk that distance now if I had to. I was still a student then, therefore I was a little frightened. Gotanda was considered to be a red-light district, so I always clutched my bag to myself and walked home quickly.

I was plumper back when I was a student. When my colleagues saw that I looked plump in my model photographs, they ordered me to try to lose some weight fast. However, I was in that teenage phase when I could not resist the temptation of snacks and sweets, so I always hid some POCKY at home, because my manager had to enter my apartment sometimes. I always looked forward to the end of the day when I could go home after work to eat strawberry-flavoured POCKY, it always makes me re~~ally happy. As long as I had POCKY, I was happy. Because I did not have much money, even if it was POCKY, I could not buy a pack everyday, so I rationed out one pack to last me for 3 days.

Back then, I did not buy my clothes at Shibuya, but at the bus station at Gotanda. One reason was because I had no money, but the main reason was that I did not have the time to shop. I was in Tokyo because of work, so I spend my whole day working, without any free time for myself. I was quite childish then too, as long as I could eat some POCKY before bed every night, I was happy. I had no great interest in clothing and make-up. Back then, "independence" was my first priority. Even though I still like to wear pretty clothes, I did not have much time or energy for it.

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Ayu's Love

Since ayu seeks perfection in everything that she does at work, does she expect the same when it comes to guys?
No. (laughs)

So if there is someone you like?
I will make the first move! (laughs)

Will you spend the important days with him?
If I have no work, we can watch some DVD together, simple and sweet. (laughs)

Are you someone who will recover quickly from a failed relationship?
Hmm... I think it depends on the other party and the amount of time we spent together.

Have you ever had a relationship that made you think that you can sacrifice all, including your career?
Yes.

Have you ever had a boyfriend, but liked someone else instead?
If I really liked him, what could I do?

Are you worried that your boyfriend might stray?
Totally not. It seems so meaningless to even have such silly suspicions all the time. If you find that you cannot bring yourself to trust the other party, then you might as well have never started the relationship. If you could not attain mutual trust, can it even be considered as love? I do not need such a lover. If I ever find that he has strayed, it's a straight goodbye to our relationship.

If he wants to break up, will you still try to hold him back?
No. Even though I seem like a strong person who takes charge of everything at work, I am actually not that courageous inside... I am not as straightforward as I seem to be. (laughs) I like to whine like a kid, and I cry alot. I would have already let him see this true side of me. However, I will think "I will not be defeated this easily" and hence I will find the courage to go on. Sounds just like a kid, huh? (laughs)

Is there a difference between fantasy love and real love?
Yes. No matter how a relationship is, there is no way you can control the other party's feelings, hence it is hard to make the other party the way he is in your fantasy. Even though you don't know what will happen in the future, as long as you give each other mutual support and walk together, won't that be enough? Fantasy is different from reality, that is what makes it so interesting.

Do you have confidence that you will be able to feel for him, that he will not cheat on you?
Yes. When you are together, it is normal that you will be able to know what he is thinking. Guys are actually very straightforward creatures, there is no need to think of them as complicated~ As long as we pay attention, they are very easy to understand~

Do you get entranced by romance movies?
I don't watch alot of romance movies to begin with, probably because I am not too keen on the idea of loving someone. I am not one who wishes that each day will have 48 hours so I can spend more time with my lover. To me, love should be something deeper and more solid. I have indeed changed myself in the past because of someone I loved, like in the ways of make-up, dressing, etc...

Do you feel that "Hamasaki Ayumi" is an obstacle when you are in love?
Yes~ I often think that way.

Your wish for him is...
I wish that he will love me as I am, and not ask me to change.

What have you gained out of loving someone and being loved?
I gained lots. Even if I went to the best school and studied the entire syllabus of everything possible, there will still be things which I cannot learn from there. I can learn these things through loving someone. Hurting others and being hurt, smiles and tears, tolerance to some things and intolerance to others, what to let go of and what to hold on to forever... I think I can learn all these things. I have learnt these things in past relationships, and now I am learning about calm and peace~

What is love to ayu? And what is being in love?
Love is life. Being in love is the energy to drive me through life, so I wish to remain in love.

Credits Goku...