News related to ayu losing her left ear
 

source: yamadashun@ayunite

http://orientaldaily.on.cc/ent/ent_a01cnt.html

other sources:
from truehappiness :http://sankei.jp.msn.com/entertainme...0002000-n1.htm
from ~X2RADialbomber~ :http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599...-23109,00.html
from AyuGAME :http://www.oricon.co.jp/news/confidence/50980/full/
Wikipedia :http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/20...nt_7372367.htm

There are news about it already, it was said that a vast number of loyal japanese fans has launched an online origami-folding campaign to wish for a miracle for ayu. So sweet...., maybe we should also do this!!


Translation by goku@ayunite:

Hamasaki Ayumi confessed to deafness in left ear
Yesterday, Japanese Queen Hamasaki Ayumi confessed that her left ear has completely lost all hearing function. However, she will not give up being a singer, and even said that she will only leave her career when her right ear also loses hearing. After hearing these brave words, a vast number of loyal fans has launched an online origami-folding campaign to bring blessings to their idol.

Celebrating her 10th year in the entertainment industry, ayu has decided to go on her second Asia Tour "Asia Tour 2008 ~10th Anniversary~"" in April. After her CountDown concert on New Year's Eve at Yoyogi First Gymnasium, ayu posted a message on her TeamAyu website at 4.55am yesterday, saying that her ear has been having problems for the past few years, which resulted in sudden deafness. The problem existed until last year, when a trip to a ear specialist confirmed that she had lost all hearing in her left ear.

Will Not Give Up Career
Even though her left ear is beyond repair, ayu still seems strong. She promised her fans that she will not give up easily on her career. Ayu said that she will continue on using her right ear until the very end, using this to prove that she is a professional singer.

Actually, ayu's hearing problems started about 7 years ago, until in 2000 summer, when a sudden loss of hearing caused her to cancel numerous concerts. Also during that year, while rehearsing her a concert, she accidentally fell from the top of a 1.5m platform, worsening her health. This has also caused ayu to have to use her hand to press on her earpiece during recent performances, affecting the quality of her singing.

Folding Paper Cranes to Bless Their Idol
Using her TeamAyu website, ayu announced her breakup with Tomoya Nagase last July, and news of her loss of hearing yesterday. Many fans immediately left messages on the site, cheering their idol on. Fans on the Japanese forum mixi also praised ayu for being a true professional, and even launched a paper crane folding campaign to bring blessings to ayu, wishing for her left ear to make a surprise recovery.

With regards to the Asia Tour this April, her record company has only released information on 19 stops in Japan so far. Overseas destinations have yet to be announced, and ayu's hearing problems may cause some problems in future performances.

PS: I'm trying to make a thousand origami-crane too!! With help from my brother and sister we'll try to make our own wishes come true with this 1000 origami-crane.
Our top wish is of course for ayu's present and future health and career, and always have a happy life.
I'm so excited about this, Wish me luck, y'all!!
960 to go....

That's very nice indeed, good idea!

omg i would love to send Ayu an origami crane...ive been doing origami for nearly 7 years now...haha i could make her a crane with little "A" emblems on it...and i can write "perform kanariya" in japanese going up the tail haha....

but seriously, this would be awesome to do...too bad there's prolly no way we could though...

oh i have to learn how to make paper crane quickly . . and I will make a wish for my Queen , Ayu

make a crane? traditionally you make a thousand if you want to send someone a blessing....get folding!

i still want to cry about this news,
if you are her fans, do you want your idol for becoming completely deaf...
i mean if she still use her ear in high desible sound system, there is a big possibility that she will completely deaf...and i don't want that to happen...

wow thats good!!

That's origami thing is cool!
I really love Ayu and I'm proud she doesn't give up :shimmy Go Ayu! Go! Go!

Awww.. poor Ayu! She must have big problems, I mean, not hearing on one ear is tough! :( She`s doing excelent for now!! Ayu gambare!!!

Yeh.. I noticed that few times.

that's a sweet idea, actually.... i think this paper crane stuff sounds really sweet, tbqh D:

That's a really sweet idea, I had thought about folding one myself.

The project is to fold 1000 of them. It goes back to the story of Sadako and the paper cranes. :O

I made 400 of them once then I ran out of paper :P

Typical reaction from the japanese people :) they always do it this way ;) Bravo!!!Ayu won't give up :) she is japanese,they never give up :)

Lol i totally suck with origami >.<!

Is she pressing on her earphone because she can't hear what's coming out from it if it's left as it is?

she must recover soon..
im sure there are alot of problems with her deafness

no matter if ayu dont make asia tour after she go back healthy again..

poor thingie

I feel so sorry! waaa :(

It's so warming to see that the japanese fans are so supportive.
ayu definitly has got the real fans ^-^"

i still feel like crying...
i'm so touched by her TeamAyu message
she'll not give up and yes, WE will be her left-ear
indeed

oh i LOVE You ayuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu
i hope her right-ear-san don't go deaf too

with the addition of oversea's stops she's going to perform over 20 stops..it is going to take a toll on her remaining right ear without doubt =(

yes i know . . by the way , can I get help from my friends when folding?
Am I the only one to fold 'em?

Ayumi you are really amazing!!
So strong. We shall pray for ur recovery!!

Aww the origami idea is soo cool. I wish I knew how to do it !

I love this idea so much!!! Ayu is so strong~

Check this out: http://youtube.com/watch?v=7F8ajh_DDYs
this video provide the best origami-crane folding lesson..

Or This

^- I think I need at least a couple years to learn and memorize that.... o-o

>< actually, i don't know how to fold a crane>< , but i will ask someone to teach me. Hope ayu can become much better .

the origami idea is such a great!!!:yes

Support Ayu !!!! :D
We are all going to be your left hear!

GOD ! ! it's not easy for me . .:no

OMG she's so brave, I would go nuts if I lost my hearing o__O;;

Makes me feel so useless D:

Alright, yes, it's nice that they're doing this origami thing for her, but I really don't see her hearing loss as that big of a deal! It could be because I study sign language, as well as the culture and life of Deaf people, therefore I don't see it as like a major loss of Ayumi's life, as she's blessed to still have most (if not all) of her hearing in her right ear. Maybe it's just a little different because she's a singer? But she's strong! Nothing will stop her!

As said before, it's definetly wondrous that she will continue her career instead of giving up now.

In a nutshell, I think it's very, very thoughtful for the fans to do this origami project. I, personally, am just not as affected that I could cry. Of course I will still support Ayumi and cheer her on; I just know that this isn't something to cry over, as it's not like it's the end of the world or anything.

speechless.. hope everything will be better!! wanna do something for Ayu but dunno what to do ToT

oh no poor ayu sama.. love her no matter whats..

*sigh* I'm so sad right now

i can't pretend to speak for anyone else here, but in regards to this matter it upsets me because of how much ayumi had to endure last year: the loss of natsuki, her and tomoya splitting up and now her incurably deaf ear? my heart goes out to her in sympathy for ALL of those losses and all that pain.

while yes, it's not the end of the world and it's not like ayumi is permanently crippled by this to the point of being incapable of living normally, i think that there are different levels of showing your support for someone you care about when they open up to you, be it by crying, paper cranes or remaining strong and not getting upset about it. it's really just varying degrees of how a person handles things--and i definitely think, for some people, this IS something to cry over. i've teared up over this because of how strong ayu's been throughout it all. it's all relative, really.

Ditto.

Yeah I totally agree with InoriNoUta! It's just that ayu has been there for us alllll the time with her lyrics and the way she shows her loyalty to fans, and when bad things come about her one after another, personally, it hurts me a lot because I care a lot about her as a singer and as a person. She's been my idol and person I look up to for years now, and I'm sure it's the same with others who have been longtime fans...so it's okay to cry.

And another thing that hurts is that she wants to continue to do her career, and I understand that losing hearing isn't the end of the world and isn't fatal, but as a singer, if she loses her right ear, it will be devastating because she can't do what she loved to do anymore. Like a soccer player injuring his leg for good, a pianist getting incurable arthritis in their hands, or an artist losing sight.

But on the bright side, she wants to live out the rest of that right ear. It's like having a set of china dishes that you never use because you don't want them to get damaged, but then what's the point of having them, if you don't use them? I love her optimism, even though I disagree to some point. She will truly live on as a legend in Japan, for sure.

GANBATTE NE AYU!!!! WE LOVE YOU!!! AWWW I WISH I COULD SEND AYU A PAPER CRANE!!! >.<

Wow...I almost want to cry.

Ayu is so strong! I love her.

I love you, Ayu, but I'm not doing origami for you. XD (Ew, my arch-nemesis...get it away!)

As a singer of her calibur losing even one ear can be quite a hindrance. Like I said in another thread she won't be able to hear most of the same nuances as before in her music and singing in order to make sure they are good and to her liking. (Like periphereal vision...there are some things you can only see with both eyes open and functioning) But she's being very optimistic which is commendable. I think most of us just hope that her right ear stays healthy.

Well, at least she has a reason to sing badly during live performances. It's been because of her ear, poor chica. She can still write amazing lyrics though, so thats good enough for me.

Thanks for sharing the details! It looks like that Ayu's trying to overcome the odds and continue her music career...

Hope ayu will recover soon

Im sure ayu will still continue to be the same ayu as before from now on~and she will still bring the audience high on concert and bring us more good songs!

and im sure ayu dont wan us to treat it as a tragic new or the end of the world..she still needs our support~~^^

1000 paper cranes.... I think that it is very good idea, and Ayu will be happy getting such present

second asia touuuurrrrr~~~~

sad to hear this~...:(
i made myself a crane..although this doesn't help Ayu...it's just solidarity among fans. but i still like the idea.
GO AYU!:love

http://sankei.jp.msn.com/entertainme...0002000-n1.htm

It is only time until it is posted elsewhere..

Oh my god... I didn't know about that!
Now I know why she was always putting her hand on her left ear's Sony headset during her lives and why sometimes she fails in voice correctness!
How it must be difficult for a singer not to hear by both ears.. She must have a lot of difficulties during concerts to evaluate the just voice power to give.
I'm afraid about the future of her right ear... Singing until the complete deaf, it's awfull! She must pay attention to her health. But on the other side, her other ear could be very strong and could support her career with no problem.

We can understand now her difficulty to sing properly for the last performances...I am really sad of that new :( I wonder if she wouldn't rather stop now before being totaly deaf person :( Ayu, genki wo dashite kudasai !!! ganbatte!

poor ayu!! it's amazing to hear that she's still singing and she's still staying strong. she's an amazing example of strength and independence for everybody to follow in my opinion.

Wow, even Australian news reported about this!

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599...-23109,00.html

WOW

^ Wow.. guess this is big news

I wonder what fan was quoted.. was it here?! D:

It must of been from Team Ayu :P

finally oricon post a news about it

http://www.oricon.co.jp/news/confidence/50980/full/

Well said, InoriNoUta...so agree with you

Btw,I'm trying to make a thousand origami-crane too!! With help from my brother and sister we'll try to make our own wishes come true with this 1000 origami-crane.
Our top wish is of course for ayu's present and future health and career, and always have a happy life.
I'm so excited about this, Wish me luck, y'all!!

About 960 to go....

Wow even BBC speaks about this

Why do they all suck at choosing photos?

Oh well. I feel like this is a big deal for the world...

ive noticed that too, lots of HK articles have the worst photos of her

This has completely blown out of proportion, Estonian, YES, Estonian (!!) sites are reporting the news. I have never seen anything related to Japanese entertainment in the news, but now they're speaking of Ayumi's condition.

http://www.elu24.ee/?id=8427
http://www.melu.ee/index.php?id=1337

I think they chose rather nice pictures, at least compared to BBC.


EDIT: Found an article from Yahoo!.

I hope Ayu still continues on for many years to come
I'm exicited about the 2nd Asia Tour - hope Ayu takes care of herself

Crap, I suck. The headline "Japanese popstar deaf in one ear" was in my Firefox's Latest Headlines column, but now it's gone and I forgot to take a screenshot of it. D: Oh well.

To quote InoriNoUta and the angel song, I'm not afraid to say that I agree with both of you. Don't get me wrong, I will never stop supporting Ayu and it's not that I don't pity all that she's gone through last year. This hearing loss just didn't affect me as much as her break-up or loss of a close friend. Like you said, Inori, people have different ways of showing respect, and mine is that of not sobbing in a corner hoping for a miracle. (;))

As negative as I probably sound in my posts regarding the hearing loss lately, I truly don't mean to be as harsh as it's coming out. I love Ayu with all my heart, and I really do appreciate her loyalty to everyone and the strength she has within herself! I mean, look! She's doing a second Asia Tour! I am so proud of her! Like it was said before, people are affected in different ways, but I can see it in everyone that we all hope for the best and we all still love her the same (if not more)! :)

gambaru

This news is really sad to hear.
I really wish she would take time off, she really needs it.
She has gone through so much this past year, I feel so bad for her.

Still, I really respect how strong and determined she is. But even the strongest of the strong knows when they should back away from something. She needs to rest, and just have time to better her health.

It's the constant exposure to sound that is giving her this problem. :(