Nikkei TOP 100 entertainers 2009

[hpg23]

seriously no other jpop female solo artiste has accomplished what has ayumi done in the 21st century , it's going to be hard for her to 'find' a successor of sorts

I totally agree with you. In my opinion, she is the last BIG BIG BIG female artist that Japan had. I mean, before Ayu we had Amuro, who was pretty huge then, but Ayu eclipsed her totally when taking the J-Pop crown. I really thought that Kumi would kinda get close to Ayu´s mark on the industry, but at this point, she is totally not doing it (and I love both.) Utada also had a huge potential to make it (and to make it bigger than Ayu), but her lack of releases and tours don´t make it for it. Surpassing Ayu is going to be real hard, and the only other female artist that I can recall as having as much power/significance as Ayu on her time was Seiko Matsuda.

And one more thing, I don´t really think she´s ever gonna stop or have a kid or something, at least not for now. She has all the points to become a living legend (if she isn´t already.) Namie kinda ruined it with her break off of music and her fall from grace, and Kumi totally runied it with the scandal (although I still think that both are great and important), but Ayumi has been 11 straight years in the business, most of them on the top, without stopping, with no scandals and with no faults. So congrats to her, because she´s on a very well deserved spot, even if she´s not on the list.

As for male entertainers, I´m always surprised that most of them (if not all) are part of groups. I mean, there´s not much solo male artists who stand out. (Maybe Ken Hirai). I guess groups have a much larger lifespam than individuals