2004 Ayumi Hamasaki how popular? Comments from www.japan-guide.com
 

I know this is a bit old but I came across it by mistake and people always ask about ayus popularity and I found it to be a interesting read because theres some commemts from people who arent ayu fans, even one from a japapnese teacher and you see what people though of her from 2004

http://www.japan-guide.com/forum/que...ay.html?1+6772
Heres just from whats page one but there 2 other pages:
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Ayumi Hamasaki how popular? 2004/7/3

How popular is Ayumi Hamasaki in Japan?

by Steven


Massive! 2004/7/5

Everybody knows her.She is mega popular!

by Miki rate this post as useful


hamasaki ayumi 2004/7/6

she's not as popular as before, but she is still a pretty big celebrity.

by Aya rate this post as useful


well.. 2004/7/12

just think of Ayumi as a much better version of brittany spears when it comes to popularity. Ayum hamasaki is actually a little old to the japanese but almost anyone will know who she is

by Chery rate this post as useful


The best 2004/7/21

I think ayumi is the best Diva in the world. She's the one for me.

by Septian rate this post as useful


Ayumi ... 2004/7/22

mmm ayumi ... yea she is regarded as a little old now. Yesturday's news if you like. But in my books : She can sing a song to me any day and I'll get just as excited.

*drools*


by Azumi rate this post as useful


Ayumi 2004/7/28

I love in Canada and I LOVE AYUMI!! SHE ROCKS!!!! ^_^

by justin-chan rate this post as useful


!!!!! 2004/8/14

I am addicted to ayumi and i don't care how old she is cause she still looks like teenager and cute!!
I love her so much!!

by Tim rate this post as useful


?? 2004/8/14

Why does ayumi look different from the photos of her old pic with swim suit. Is she getting younger or she had an surgery???

by Peter rate this post as useful


Ayumi 2004/8/14

I am a teacher at a junior high school in Japan. In order to know who's popular now, I always ask my students. But even they said that Ayumi is no longer the best. I get the same feeling too, because she hasn't appeared on TV as often as she used to, and her new songs aren't selling really well compare to her old albums. Maybe she spends more time with her boyfriend Nagase Tomoya. They were seen in Los Angeles together last month, and newspapers in Japan expect them to get married soon. If you want to know who's the new J-Pop Diva, it seems like Mika Nakajima has taken over the spot light.

by Joe rate this post as useful


Ayu in France 2004/9/4

in france she's known!! many people knows her, and love her!

by TALULU rate this post as useful


a different person 2004/9/22

I can't believe it yet, but i saw ayumi in paris (in the subway!) I was listening to her!!!! Nobody knew who was this pretty girl, i was really impressed!!!

by OneJoan rate this post as useful


The Answer 2004/9/26

i don not really know how popular Ayu is in Japan.
but i can tell you that in one Chinese Ayu-club on the internet there are nearly 10000 members there.
so you can guess how hot she is in her nation.

by EDWARD rate this post as useful


Still going... 2004/10/6

She's been going for over 6 years and hasn't had a release that didn't get into the top 3 of the charts since 1999. But recently she's been diagnosed as completely deaf in one ear and warned to stop performing after this year.

by Yo-chan rate this post as useful


Ayumi 2004/10/6

One more thing to add. Recently there's a rumor that Ayu is going to get married soon with her boyfriend Nagase Tomoya. Usually when a singer marries, it means the end of her career in Japan. Just look at Namuro Amie and you will know what I mean.

by Joe rate this post as useful


Ayumi for life 2004/10/19

are u kidding me? Ayumi is better then everything i have ever heard. Rap, hip hop, R&B..... everything, she sings better then anyone... I respect her for life. and she still looks Beautiful =D

by FabKid_Ayumi 4 life rate this post as useful


Yo-Chan 2004/11/13

Hey Yo-Chan, where did you get the information that Ayu is deaf in one of her ears? All I know is that she just has a problem in her left ear, and is not completely deaf.. Can you tell me where did you see this news at?

by Walcon rate this post as useful


deaf 2004/12/14

There was a special reportage in japanese tv about her (I think it was from NBC or so) and you also can downloaqd in the net. However she got problems in her ear some years ago, about the time she was doing her Dome Life Tour. She had problems recording as she always heard a signal in her ear. SO she had to stop for a while and ot got better (at this time she was almost deaf), maybe it got worse again. I'm sorry for her ;_;
I love her and I would be happy if she get married to Nagase and get some kiddies *haha*
Also these days my beloved Kumi Koda is getting higher and higher. ^________^

by Ku-chan rate this post as useful


She is very popular !!! 2004/12/14

Probabry there is no person who don't know her in Japan now. She is known from children to old people.

by kuronbo rate this post as useful


i wonder 2004/12/14

does she married yet?

by j-boy

Thank you for this!! It's very interesting! :yes Unfortunately, more than half of the people who posted seem to be foreigners, so it's not really a 100% accurate picture of what the Japanese thought of her.

Still GREAT information, though!! Thank you so much! You've really contributed something awesome. :)

Maybe this is old but still great to know :)
I believe J-Pop nowadays is into boybands but Ayu is still one of the most popular female out there!

The quote from the teacher reminds me of Mean Girls lol

Ah a LOL @ Mika comment, seriously...

yeah the majority of the comments seem to be from foreigners.

interesting read!

But I think most of the posts are like still saying Ayu is still popular. Everyone knows her!
Really wonder what it will look like if this topic was to be brought up again now...

haha like others have said before me, that certainly was an intresting post to read. I also wonder how the results would be if it was regarding ayu's popularity as of today.. I wonder if it would have gone up or down? ( Judging by her voice, and material released lately -- I would think it would have gone down a bit with the possibily of being stable ).

Well... Mika was the biggest female jpop singer back on 2004 xD Now it's Superfly girl, isn't she?

yeah, but she didn't last long >.< at least her being mega popular ^^

^Well... usually they don't... I read once that usually a "jpop queen" lasts for 2 years, and most of the time it's really +- like this... after that, some of them totally vanishes (this happened to Puffy), some become normal pop stars (Mika's case, and also *please people don't shot me* Koda's) and VERY few keep a stable but not as big popularity (Ayu and Hikki are the only I can think since the 80s actually o_O). Namie is the most rare case, she was huge, she was nobody after that and she is big again right now...

lol Namuro Amie xDD and Mika Nakajima xDD That's just too funny!

It's an interesting insight I guess, I think they're still pretty relevant to her popularity though. She may no longer be regarded as "the best" by most Japanese but her international fanbase is growing and almost all of Japan knows her so she's got a big reputation :)

Thanks for sharing~!

oh wow this was interesting . . .sometimes i never think how long ayus been around maintaining some sort of popularity

Oh, nice find! Thanks :).

Yeah... "Ayu and Nagase married"... "Look at Namie Amuro and you'll know what I mean (marriage comment)"

How things can change a lot in years... ne?