Time again for the Japanese government to release taxpayer info for last year.
In 2004 Ayu paid 137,850,000 yen (US$1,288,800) in taxes. Based on this her income is estimated at 379,290,000 yen (US$3,546,092).
Sanspo has a table of the top earning female singers. The first number is the estimated income in yen. The number in parenthesis is the estimated income in US dollars.
Hikaru Utada - 995,780,000 ($9,309,835)
Ayumi Hamasaki - 379,290,000 ($3,546,092)
MISIA - 197,750,000 ($1,848,822)
Mai Kuraki - 175,950,000 ($1,645,007)
Kaori Mochida - 161,750,000 ($1,512,248)
Hitomi Yaida - 103,560,000 ($968,212)
Aya Matsuura - 76,180,000 ($712,229)
Namie Amuro - 72,640,000 ($679,132)
Rimi Natsukawa - 60,890,000 ($569,278)
Chihiro Onitsuka - 60,320,000 ($563,949)
Mika Nakashima - 56,640,000 ($529,544)
Ayaka Hirahara - 38,480,000 ($359,761)
Ai Otsuka - 37,590,000 ($351,440)
Yo Hitoto - 35,620,000 ($333,022)
Mari Yaguchi - 34,780,000 ($325,168)
Utada was the only entertainer to make the top 100 taxpayer list (she was #75). For comparison, the man who paid the most taxes in Japan (fund manager Tatsuro Kiyohara) is estimated to have earned about 10 billion yen (US$93,500,000).
Ayu's income has decreased significantly from what it was a few years ago:
Ayu's estimated income for 2003: 769,890,000 yen (US$6,694,000)
Ayu's estimated income for 2002: 935,300,000 yen (US$8,060,000)
Ayu's estimated income for 2001: 1,158,000,000 yen (US$9,100,000)
http://www.sanspo.com/geino/top/gt20...005051701.html
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The top male singers. The first number is the estimated income in yen. The number in parenthesis is the estimated income in US dollars.
Masahiro Nakai (SMAP) - 513,350,000 ($4,842,925)
Koshi Inaba (B'z) - 481,780,000 ($4,545,094)
Eikichi Yazawa - 467,320,000 ($4,408,679)
Tak Matsumoto (B'z) - 355,720,000 ($3,355,849)
Keisuke Kuwata (Southern All Stars) - 328,510,000 ($3,099,151)
Kazutoshi Sakurai (Mr Children) - 315,290,000 ($2,974,434)
Tsuyoshi Nagabuchi - 292,780,000 ($2,762,075)
Fumiya Fujii - 282,210,000 ($2,662,358)
Takuya Kimura (SMAP) - 271,670,000 ($2,562,925)
Saburo Kitajima - 262,000,000 ($2,471,698)
http://www.sponichi.co.jp/society/ch...004/actor.html