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^^ Hikaru is definitely as popular as she is because:
1.) She doesn't release a whole lot (there have been many years, even consecutive, where she hasn't released any Japanese works, and even a few where she released nothing at all!).
2.) She's never really been shoved in anybody's face (like Ayu...).
3.) Her music allows her to have an extremely huge fanbase, since she mostly does Western music (which, obviously, would get her more international fans than almost anybody else, and she'll get the Japanese fans who are into all that, too), but because she has, the past few years, been venturing also into music that the average Japanese can also relate with (ULTRA BLUE and HEART STATION, and even a lot of Deep River).
4.) She's technically a foreigner, but she's definitely very Japanese. For this, and other reasons, she's quite unique. This attracts all kinds of fans.
5.) She is, in generally, very likable. I mean, it's hard to truly hate Hikki. >_> As a matter of fact, I've never, ever heard a single person say they hate her. Very amazing...
.......So..yeah, lol. Numbers one and five are mainly the reasons. If Ayumi hadn't been forced into the public's eye non-stop for years straight (they've just recently cooled down on it), I am positive she would still be the dominating female artist, no questions asked. (Afterall, a huge reason for Namie's comeback is because she was non-existent for a while. So why wouldn't Ayumi Hamasaki have just the effect, if not better?)
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