[Article] articles about the police raid on avex June 2009

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Tokyo police raid Ayumi Hamasaki's agent

Japanese police Wednesday raided the office of the agent of pop superstar Ayumi Hamasaki after a promotional event in April drew 8,000 screaming fans and stopped traffic in central Tokyo.

Police raided the offices of agent Avex Entertainment Inc., over the event that was allegedly held without a permit in Tokyo's fashionable Shibuya district.

Shrieking crowds massed around Hamasaki, 30, when she appeared for several minutes to promote her new book at the teenage fashion temple Shibuya 109, a shopping centre that is a magnet for teenage girls.

Police are reportedly investigating the incident as a possible violation of the road traffic law, but they declined to comment, as did Avex staff.

Hamasaki, known to her fans simply as 'Ayu,' enjoys intense adoration as a pop diva and fashion icon among girls and young women in Japan and elsewhere across East Asia, including Taiwan and China.

From AFP, 11 June 2009