Are Japanese people surprised that you listen to Ayu?

[ExodusUK]

Of course talking about Ayu to a Japanese person is the best way to bore them in my experience but in all cases they all seemed to be really surprised. I was wondering if anyone here has had any funny experiences or stories regarding this.

[My Rainbow]

bore them? why? is the one of the best "things" from Japan: manga, anime, japanese food, ayumi hamasaki... they are lucky!!

And yes, they seem surprised when they know I listen to her. They seem to know all the songs I sing from ayu, so that is nice! Of course, ayumi is the greatest female musician in Japan.

[bondingo]

Yeah, all the Japanese people I know were surprised when I told them I liked Ayu. Namie brought about better responses though. I'd always get an "Amuro san kawaii ne?" or "kakkoi ne~?" with her.

I feel like they think I'm an old woman when I tell them I like Ayu (same with MISIA). I usually just mention I like the trendy, popular stuff like AKB48 or Shoujo Jidai, which I do love anyways.

[AyumiAi]

^aww haha yea I was talking to some japanese people (in japanese so we had a very basic conversation)
and i told them i love ayu san and they were like omg no way us too and like got excited

[PoetGirl]

I mention ayu only when I notice they are fans of her too, otherwise Im not too bothered to share my love lol. Same with non-japanese also, I try not to annoy people cause when I start talking about stuff I love thats endless story and I get so excited and yeah... lol

[Jason]

Originally Posted by PoetGirl

I mention ayu only when I notice they are fans of her too, otherwise Im not too bothered to share my love lol. Same with non-japanese also, I try not to annoy people cause when I start talking about stuff I love thats endless story and I get so excited and yeah... lol

Yeah I'm like that aswell. I'm surprised my girlfriend hasn't murdered me yet.

I've only ever met some non-Japanese fans over here. Which is still exciting as practically no one knows her over here. Never met a Japanese fan, though

[PoetGirl]

my boyfriend(s) had to love her. it's an obligation lol, I convert them in ayu fans haha...
not that its my intention, its just, when someone is around me so often they hear me
talking about her, its funny like in serious conversation Im like 'ayu, sorry for mentioning her, would say...' LOL and they got interested why im so excited and ofcourse I show them every aspect of her music lol and they can't not like it.. Im embarassed 'cause I act like a child when ayu is releasing new music and everyone knows it around me...

Its funny when boyfriend one time got mad me at me and told me instead of leave, get out, leave me alone whateva he said 'go listen to ayu and then come back'

LOL

[YUKARI]

I think it's their normal reaction

[Jason]

Originally Posted by PoetGirl

my boyfriend(s) had to love her. it's an obligation lol, I convert them in ayu fans haha...
not that its my intention, its just, when someone is around me so often they hear me
talking about her, its funny like in serious conversation Im like 'ayu, sorry for mentioning her, would say...' LOL and they got interested why im so excited and ofcourse I show them every aspect of her music lol and they can't not like it.. Im embarassed 'cause I act like a child when ayu is releasing new music and everyone knows it around me...

Its funny when boyfriend one time got mad me at me and told me instead of leave, get out, leave me alone whateva he said 'go listen to ayu and then come back'

LOL

Haha Now THAT's an ayu fan. Very similar to how I act, actually, when Ayu is releasing new music and how I talk about her around friends

[Kanzaki]

Not really, but once I had a funny thing happen to me on last.fm. Ayu is my most played artist and I'm from Denmark. Then I met a japanese girl on there, who's top artist was a danish artist! We both thought that was a bit funny.

But no, so far no one's been surprised really.

[jbrat2219]

My Japanese friend thinks she's strong for continuing her career despite being deaf in one ear, that's about it. He wasn't really surprised I was a fan. He was more surprised I'm a Koda Kumi fan because she's so "unpopular." Maybe in his area? I don't know.

[emi♡]

^I think Koda is unpopular in general


I've met Japanese people in real life that were like "how do you know about Ayu O_o"

online...not really. Most of the Japanese people I know are from here.

[C+R+E+AYUMI]

My japanese friends were all surprised when i named Ayu the first time..and nobody was particularly enthusiastic about it.

[Suteisi]

When I had japanese classes, there were japanese exchange students coming in once in a while. One time I had my cell phone resting on my desk and I had a cell phone strap and a rhinestone sticker with Ayu's logo on it.

When they saw it they all said "AYU!!!" with big round eyes and surprised expretions! Lol It was cute!

Then went on to ask me tons of questions, how I know her, what's my favorite songs, if I know her for a long time, etc.

Most of them knew the older songs though. Back then, GUILTY had just come out and none of them knew about it. But they could sing along to evolution really well. Lol

[xLuna&1LOVE]

Yes they are surprised. When I told them I loved Ayumi Hamasaki, they were amused. They did not really know that she was that international, even though she had been to London and Paris before (by that time I asked them, Ayu was in LA for Love Songs)
But it was fun. Too bad they just only know her. They did not care much about her.

[Calico]

I've lived in japan three times now and peopel are always shocked I know any j-pop, let alone that I know 100x more than them in general lol (Music is my biggest hobby, I will just read articles on generasia all day, ha) I tell my students/coworkers that I like AYu and they're like "oh, okay", lol. But if I say I like Namie or Koda it's like breaking a damn and it's instant "OMG ME TOO SOOOO KEWL" time. Actually the artist that gets the most disdain is usually GACKT. most japanese people I've met turn their noses at that, lol.

EDIT: oh a story. Well I used to be bffs with a Japanese exchange student on my college campus. She knew I loved ayu but was indifferent herself. But she knew I owned a lot of her concert DVDs and would come by my room when she was bored/really depressed (becauses of her awweesssoooome boyfriend) and watch them to cheer herself up, ha.

[Mari-chan]

Oh.. I also know it. When I told an japanese friend, I like Ayu... or Onitsuka Chihiro or Kokia... the all surprised. By the way.. most of them don't know Kokia.
So.. I sometimes know more about J-pop than a Japanese friend. Most of my friends from Japan don't listen to J-Pop. I always wondering.
Oh.. when I told a friend once, that I really like Ayu.. she told me, Ayu isn't so popular in Japan any more. Some years ago, it was more. She also told me the reason... because Ayu isn't so cute as in her beginning any more.
I totaly couldn't understand it. I don't care her cuteness.. I care her Music.

[rakeru]

Recently, I met a Japanese exchange student who didn't speak great English. He went on my club retreat without knowing many people, so I offered him a seat in my car with my friends. Conversation was failing, so I gave him my iPod and told him to pick something (it was deliberately set on an Ayu song). He was absolutely thrilled that I had so much Japanese music and instantly went for Ayu, Yuna Ito, and aiko. My other friends were confused, but I felt so good for being able to make a connection.

[ll moments ll]

my japanese teachers are fans of ayumi. they're so cute. but usually when i'm with Japanese people my age (college-age), i talk about idols or whoever is most popular at the moment. LOL. she's respected within the younger generations from what i've gathered, but she's not really the talk of the conversation. more people are surprised when i bring up Arashi, haha.

however, at the times i've been at karaoke with Japanese people, "Greatful days" is a really popular song to sing.

[A Loon]

I come from a town that's a big tourist attraction. Many Japanese come during spring and fall. And always get surprised to see me wearing my CD 10-11 ~do it again~ t-shirt! Same when I tell them I'm a huge fan of Ayu's. Some actually even talk with me and listen to a few songs. I remember when Moon leaked last year, I was walking my dog and a Japanese couple (around 25yo) approached and asked if they could take a photo of the dog (white swiss shepherd). When I heard them talking to eachother in Japanese, I started talking in Japanese too. They were shocked when I started talking and asked how I knew Japanese. Then I let them hear Moon and the guy was so happy! He said he was an Ayu fan too !