Biography
Early life
Although Ayumi lived with her mother, she was primarily raised by her grandmother. She has vague recollections of her father as he left the family at around the time she was two, and she has not seen him since. She grew up in a very liberal household where she was expected to do what was right for her without her mother intervening in her affairs, since her mother was always out working to support the family.
In her youth, Hamasaki started her modeling career as a model for a local bank. During high school, she was considered a delinquent because of her dyed hair and short shirts which were considered extremely unconventional in Japan at that time. Eventually she dropped out of high school and moved to Tokyo to pursue a fulltime modeling career, supported by her grandmother.
Idol career
Hamasaki used the pseudonym Kurumi Hamazaki, acting in low budget dramas like Miseinen and b-movies like Sumo momo momo; however, she did not find success. She was too short to become a professional model. As a result, she spent her days wandering the streets of Tokyo, shopping, and dancing at clubs in the Shibuya district.
As an artist
The first steps Ayumi gave on music was in the rap scene. On December 1, 1995 Hamasaki's first album along side with Dohzi-T, DJ Bass NOTHING FROM NOTHING was released. There's poor information about this era in Ayu's life but it is known that there was virtually no promotion for the album. After failing to chart in Oricon, her talent agency and record label, Nippon Columbia, dropped her. After this, Hamasaki supposedly met her future producer, Masato Matsuura in a karaoke bar.[1] (She met Matsuura in a music club/bar "Velfarre" owned by Avex Trax—big independent label that Matsuura worked for. He was impressed by Hamasaki's vocals, and when he asked her if she wanted to pursue a singing career, she said she agreed, "only because I had nothing to do". (She didn't say that at first. She first said "No way!" and was pretty suspicious of Matsuura, because of the age difference. She finally agreed to do vocal training because he kept pressing her and she indeed had "nothing better to do") Hamasaki was contracted to take vocal training in Tokyo but she stopped attending as she found it too rigid. She kept skipping the classes but didn't tell Matsuura about it. When he started calling her, she would switch off the phone, knowing that she'd be asked about the trainings. When he finally found out, for a more relaxed atmosphere Matsuura sent Hamasaki to New York, an event she would later say was exactly what she needed. Impressed by the writing style in her letters to him, Matsuura suggested that she try her hand at writing her own lyrics for her songs.
A Song for XX & LOVEppears era
Duty era
A BEST & I am... era
A BALLADS & RAINBOW era
Memorial address era
MY STORY era
(miss)understood era
Her highly-anticipated 35th single, "STEP you/is this LOVE?", was released in April. It was the first time that Ayumi released a double a-side single ("STEP you" used in TV spots for Panasonic and "is this LOVE?" for Morinaga chocolates). The single was number one in the daily, weekly and monthly Oricon charts. It held the #1 spot on the weekly charts for 2 weeks in a row. This single went on to sell over 345,000 copies, her highest selling single for the year of 2005.
Secret era
Cultural impact
Fashion
Hamasaki has been considered the fashion leader among Japanese females ever since reaching superstar status in 2000, especially among Japanese high-school girls. Regularly appearing in leading Japanese fashion magazines such as ViVi, Cawaii and Popteen, Hamasaki became a trend-setter with her unique style, and Japanese streets were filled with young females trying to imitate her style with fashion items such as oversized sunglasses and fake fox tails. Her influence in Japanese fashion has seen her win an unprecendented three consecutive Nail Queen awards and five Best Jeanist awards, and was inducted into the respective Halls of Fame for her achievements. As of 2006, she was named the most fashionable female artist in both Oricon's spring and summer polls.
Lyrics
As the lyricist of all of her songs, Hamasaki is well known for her deep and poetic lyrics, setting her apart from other pop stars. As others concentrate on matters of love and heartbreak, recurring themes in Hamasaki's lyrics are loneliness, self-doubt, and hope, themes which deeply resounded with the younger generation of Japan. Arguably her best lyrical work, "SEASONS" , won the Best Lyrics Prize at the Japan Record Awards in 2000.
Symbols
The first A
The first time she used a symbol for a title was her eleventh single A. The strokes of the symbol represented the a-sides of the single - monochrome, Trauma, too late, and End roll. This is the only context that this symbol has been used in, and she ceased to use this symbol after the invention of the second A. Ayumi later modified the A to represent her own name.
The second A
The second A is not really an A, but a combination of her initials A and H. This has been used frequently since its first appearance as the A in LOVEppears in 1999. This symbol was slightly changed for Ayumi's 5th studio album RAINBOW (and also the song "RAINBOW" that later appeared in A BALLADS not the title track). Recently with Ayumi's latest album "(miss)understood" Ayumi invented a new symbol of the A with a heart inside of it.
M
This symbol was used for her nineteenth single M, which unlike A featured only one song. The symbol is always used whenever a version of the song M appears on a tracklist or CD compilation.
H
This symbol of the special letter H was used for Ayumi's three-side single with the same name, released in 2002. On Ayumi's discography whenever the H single is mentioned it always appears with the special symbol.
Rivalry
One of Ayumi Hamasaki's first rivals since her debut was Ami Suzuki. They both debuted around the same time and both had a similar style of music and singing. While Ami was working under Sony Music Japan, the two artists were put in direct competition with the release of Ami's BE TOGETHER and Ayumi's Boys & Girls. BE TOGETHER took the #1 spot in the first week, and Boys & Girls in the second week. Despite this, BE TOGETHER sold approximately 800 000 copies, while Boys & Girls sold over a million. In 2005, Ami Suzuki joined the avex trax label, and therefore she is no longer considered a rival of Ayumi's.
Ayumi Hamasaki is commonly considered to be the direct rival of (also J-pop star) Utada Hikaru, which caused intense debate between fans of both artists.
On March 28, 2001, Utada Hikaru and Ayumi Hamasaki came in direct competition. Utada's album Distance and Hamasaki's album A BEST were released on the same day. Distance topped the charts for the first week while A BEST was #2. The following week A BEST hit #1 and Distance dropped to #3. At the end of the year, Distance and A BEST were the top 2 highest selling albums of the year.
In a very personal interview, that was broadcast by the Japanese NTV on the 12th of april 2004 (Ayumi Hamasaki - Special Interview 2004-04-12 NTV), Ayumi Hamasaki explained that this rivalry made her feel terrible but that it was pushed by the record companies. In protest Ayumi Hamasaki, who has a very large degree of creative freedom, is depicted with a tear on her cheek on the cover of her A BEST album. It is speculated that this protest is also the reason why she insisted on re-recording some of her old tracks that feature on this album.
On one of Ayumi's most recent TV-appearance on MUSIC STATION in December 2005, both Hamasaki and Utada appeared together and got along very well. Utada even commented that she sang some of Hamasaki's songs when she went to karaoke.
The Hamasaki-Utada rivalry has been regarded as one of the biggest rivalries in the Japanese music industry.
Discography
-
Studio albums
 Biography
Early life
Although Ayumi lived with her mother, she was primarily raised by her grandmother. She has vague recollections of her father as he left the family at around the time she was two, and she has not seen him since. She grew up in a very liberal household where she was expected to do what was right for her without her mother intervening in her affairs, since her mother was always out working to support the family.
Idol career
Hamasaki used the pseudonym Kurumi Hamazaki, acting in low budget dramas like Miseinen and b-movies like Sumo momo momo; however, she did not find success. She was too short to become a professional model. As a result, she spent her days wandering the streets of Tokyo, shopping, and dancing at clubs in the Shibuya district.
As an artist
The first steps Ayumi gave on music was in the rap scene. On December 1, 1995 Hamasaki's first album along side with Dohzi-T, DJ Bass NOTHING FROM NOTHING was released. There's poor information about this era in Ayu's life but it is known that there was virtually no promotion for the album. After failing to chart in Oricon, her talent agency and record label, Nippon Columbia, dropped her. After this, Hamasaki supposedly met her future producer, Masato Matsuura in a karaoke bar.[1] (She met Matsuura in a music club/bar "Velfarre" owned by Avex Trax—big independent label that Matsuura worked for. He was impressed by Hamasaki's vocals, and when he asked her if she wanted to pursue a singing career, she said she agreed, "only because I had nothing to do". (She didn't say that at first. She first said "No way!" and was pretty suspicious of Matsuura, because of the age difference. She finally agreed to do vocal training because he kept pressing her and she indeed had "nothing better to do") Hamasaki was contracted to take vocal training in Tokyo but she stopped attending as she found it too rigid. She kept skipping the classes but didn't tell Matsuura about it. When he started calling her, she would switch off the phone, knowing that she'd be asked about the trainings. When he finally found out, for a more relaxed atmosphere Matsuura sent Hamasaki to New York, an event she would later say was exactly what she needed. Impressed by the writing style in her letters to him, Matsuura suggested that she try her hand at writing her own lyrics for her songs.
A Song for XX & LOVEppears era
Duty era
A BEST & I am... era
A BALLADS & RAINBOW era
Memorial address era
MY STORY era
(miss)understood era
Her highly-anticipated 35th single, "STEP you/is this LOVE?", was released in April. It was the first time that Ayumi released a double a-side single ("STEP you" used in TV spots for Panasonic and "is this LOVE?" for Morinaga chocolates). The single was number one in the daily, weekly and monthly Oricon charts. It held the #1 spot on the weekly charts for 2 weeks in a row. This single went on to sell over 345,000 copies, her highest selling single for the year of 2005.
Secret era
Cultural impact
Fashion
Hamasaki has been considered the fashion leader among Japanese females ever since reaching superstar status in 2000, especially among Japanese high-school girls. Regularly appearing in leading Japanese fashion magazines such as ViVi, Cawaii and Popteen, Hamasaki became a trend-setter with her unique style, and Japanese streets were filled with young females trying to imitate her style with fashion items such as oversized sunglasses and fake fox tails. Her influence in Japanese fashion has seen her win an unprecendented three consecutive Nail Queen awards and five Best Jeanist awards, and was inducted into the respective Halls of Fame for her achievements. As of 2006, she was named the most fashionable female artist in both Oricon's spring and summer polls.
Lyrics
As the lyricist of all of her songs, Hamasaki is well known for her deep and poetic lyrics, setting her apart from other pop stars. As others concentrate on matters of love and heartbreak, recurring themes in Hamasaki's lyrics are loneliness, self-doubt, and hope, themes which deeply resounded with the younger generation of Japan. Arguably her best lyrical work, "SEASONS" , won the Best Lyrics Prize at the Japan Record Awards in 2000.
Symbols
The first A
The first time she used a symbol for a title was her eleventh single A. The strokes of the symbol represented the a-sides of the single - monochrome, Trauma, too late, and End roll. This is the only context that this symbol has been used in, and she ceased to use this symbol after the invention of the second A. Ayumi later modified the A to represent her own name.
The second A
The second A is not really an A, but a combination of her initials A and H. This has been used frequently since its first appearance as the A in LOVEppears in 1999. This symbol was slightly changed for Ayumi's 5th studio album RAINBOW (and also the song "RAINBOW" that later appeared in A BALLADS not the title track). Recently with Ayumi's latest album "(miss)understood" Ayumi invented a new symbol of the A with a heart inside of it.
M
This symbol was used for her nineteenth single M, which unlike A featured only one song. The symbol is always used whenever a version of the song M appears on a tracklist or CD compilation.
H
This symbol of the special letter H was used for Ayumi's three-side single with the same name, released in 2002. On Ayumi's discography whenever the H single is mentioned it always appears with the special symbol.
Rivalry
One of Ayumi Hamasaki's first rivals since her debut was Ami Suzuki. They both debuted around the same time and both had a similar style of music and singing. While Ami was working under Sony Music Japan, the two artists were put in direct competition with the release of Ami's BE TOGETHER and Ayumi's Boys & Girls. BE TOGETHER took the #1 spot in the first week, and Boys & Girls in the second week. Despite this, BE TOGETHER sold approximately 800 000 copies, while Boys & Girls sold over a million. In 2005, Ami Suzuki joined the avex trax label, and therefore she is no longer considered a rival of Ayumi's.
Ayumi Hamasaki's PV's Directors List
- poker face - Director: Wataru Takeishi,
- YOU - Director: Wataru Takeishi,
- Trust - Director: Wataru Takeishi,
- For My Dear... - Director: Hiromitsu Odagami,
- Depend on you - Director: Masashi Muto,
- WHATEVER (version M) - Director: Wataru Takeishi,
- Love ~Destiny~ - Director: Wataru Takeishi,
- TO BE - Director: Wataru Takeishi,
- Boys & Girls - Director: Wataru Takeishi,
- appears - Director: Wataru Takeishi,
- kanariya - Director: Wataru Takeishi,
- Fly high - Director: Wataru Takeishi,
- vogue-Far Away-SEASONS ~The Trilogy~ - Director: Wataru Takeishi,
- Surreal - Director: Wataru Takeishi,
- M - Director: Wataru Takeishi,
- evolution - Director: Wataru Takeishi,
- Endless sorrow - Director: Wataru Takeishi,
- Dearest - Director: Wataru Takeishi,
- Dearest (Acoustic Piano Version) - Director: Wataru Takeishi,
- Connected - Director: Studio 4C Connected Project,
- Daybreak - Director: Wataru Takeishi,
- Free & Easy - Director: Wataru Takeishi,
- Voyage - Director: Isao Yukisada,
- Real me - Director: Ukon Kamimura,
- Rainbow - Director: Wataru Takeishi,
- Ourselves - Director: Kouki Tange,
- Greatful Days - Director: Hideaki Sunaga,
- Hanabi ~episode II~ - Director: Shuichi Tan,
- forgiveness - Director: Yoshiya Okoyama + D.B.D,
- No way to say - Director: Ukon Kamimura,
- ANGEL'S SONG - Director: Hideaki Sunaga,
- Because of You - Director: Kouki Tange,
- Moments - Director: Tetsuo Inoue,
- INSPIRE - Director: Tetsuo Inoue,
- GAME - Director: Hideaki Sunaga,
- CAROLS - Director: Masashi Muto,
- About You - Director: Hideaki Sunaga,
- Walking Proud - Director: Ken Sueda,
- Humming 7/4 - Director: Wataru Takeishi,
- STEP you - Director: Tetsuo Inoue,
- is this LOVE? - Director: Masashi Muto,
- My Name's Women - Director: Wataru Takeishi,
- fairyland - Director: Wataru Takeishi,
- Alterna - Director: Koki Tange,
- HEAVEN - Director: Wataru Takeishi,
- Bold & Delicious - Director: Luis Hernandez,
- Pride - Director: Luis Hernandez,
- Ladies Night - Director: Masashi Muto,
- rainy day - Director: Tetsuo Inoue,
- Bold & Delicious (Side Story) - Director: Luis Hernandez,
- Startin' - Director: Takahide Ishii,
- Born To Be... - Director: Takahide Ishii,
- BLUE BIRD - Director: Takahide Ishii,
- Beautiful Fighters - Director: Luis Hernandez with direction aided by Takahide Ishii,
DVDs
- Ayumi Hamasaki Concert Tour 2000 A 第1幕 (September 13, 2000)
- Ayumi Hamasaki Concert Tour 2000 A 第2幕 (September 27, 2000)
- Ayumi Hamasaki Countdown Live 2000-2001 A (June 20, 2001)
- Ayumi Hamasaki Dome Tour 2001 A (December 12, 2001)
- Ayumi Hamasaki Countdown Live 2001-2002 A (January 29, 2003) 1
- Ayumi Hamasaki Arena Tour 2002 A (January 29, 2003)
- Ayumi Hamasaki Stadium Tour 2002 A (January 29, 2003)
- Ayumi Hamasaki Countdown Live 2002-2003 A (January 29, 2003) 1
- Ayumi Hamasaki Complete Live Box A (January 29, 2003)# 72,826 copies sold
- Ayumi Hamasaki A Museum ~30th single collection live~ (February 25, 2004)# 100,017copies sold
- Ayumi Hamasaki Arena Tour 2003-2004 A (September 29, 2004)# 69,829 copies sold
- Ayumi Hamasaki Countdown Live 2004-2005 A (March 2, 2005) # 66,674 copies sold
- Ayumi Hamasaki Arena Tour 2005 A ~My Story~ (August 24, 2005) # 86,887 copies sold
- Ayumi Hamasaki Countdown Live 2005-2006 A (March 23, 2006) #2 57,405 copies sold
- Ayumi Hamasaki Arena Tour 2006 A ~(miss)understood~ (November 1, 2006)
1 (Only in the complete live box.)
DVD audio
- RAINBOW (July 9, 2003)
- CAROLS (September 29, 2004)
- MY STORY (March 24, 2005)
Other
- A VISUAL MIX (PlayStation 2 software, December 13, 2001)
Awards
Years
Awards
1998
- -Japan Gold Disc Awards- Best New Artist (1998)
- -Japan Gold Disc Awards- Pop Album of the Year -- A Song for XX
1999
- -Japan Nailist Association- Nail Queen
- -All Japan Request Awards- Grand Prix
2000
- -Japan Gold Disc Awards- Pop Album of the Year -- LOVEppears
- -Japan Gold Disc Awards- Single of the Year -- A
- -The Japan Record Awards- Best Album -- Duty
- -The Japan Record Awards- Gold Prize -- SEASONS
- -Japan Nailist Association- Nail Queen
2001
- -MTV JAPAN Video Music Awards- Best Female Artist
- -Japan Gold Disc Awards
- -Japan Gold Disc Awards- Song of the Year -- M
- -Japan Gold Disc Awards- Song of the Year -- SEASONS
- -Japan Gold Disc Awards- Pop Album of the Year -- Duty
- -Japan Gold Disc Awards- Artist of the Year
- -Japan Cable Award- Grand Prix
- -The Japan Record Awards- Gold Prize -- Dearest
- -The Japan Record Awards- The Award -- Dearest
- -MTV World Music Awards- Best Japanese Pop/Rock Artist
- -MTV World Music Awards- World's Best-Selling Asian Artist
- -Japan Nailist Association - Nail Queen
- -Un-sorted - Barbie Award
- -Best Jeanist Association- Best Jeanist of the year
- -130 million people choose best artist award - Best artist
2002
- -MTV ASIA Awards- Best Female Artist Award
- -MTV ASIA Awards- Most Influential Japanese Artist In Asia (special award)
- -Japan Gold Disc Awards- Pop Album of the Year -- A Best
- -Japan Gold Disc Awards- Pop Album of the Year -- I am...
- -Japan Gold Disc Awards- Artist of the Year
- -Japan Cable Award- Grand Prix
- -The Japan Record Awards- Gold Prize -- Voyage
- -The Japan Record Awards- The Award -- Voyage
- -All Japan Request Awards- Grand Prix
- -Japan Nailist Association - Nail Queen
- -130 million people choose best artist award - Best artist
- -Best Jeanist Association- Best Jeanist of the year
- -Un-sorted- All Japan Request Award
2003
- -MTV JAPAN Video Music Awards- Best Female Video -- Because of You
- -MTV JAPAN Video Music Awards- Best Pop Video -- No way to say
- -MTV JAPAN Video Music Awards- Best Live Performance Presented by ASAHI SUPER DRY
- -Japan Gold Disc Awards- Song of the Year -- Free&Easy
- -Japan Gold Disc Awards- Song of the Year -- H
- -Japan Gold Disc Awards- Song of the Year -- Voyage
- -Japan Gold Disc Awards- Rock/Pop Album of the Year -- A Ballads
- -Japan Gold Disc Awards- Rock/Pop Album of the Year -- &
- -Japan Gold Disc Awards- Rock/Pop Album of the Year -- Memorial address
- -Japan Gold Disc Awards- Artist of the Year
- -The Japan Record Awards- Gold Prize -- No way to say
- -The Japan Record Awards- The Award -- No way to say
- -130 million people choose best artist award - Best artist
- -All Japan Request Awards- Grand Prix
- -MTV World Music Awards- Best Japanese Pop/Rock Artist
- -Oricon Chart Awards- Best Selling Album Title Award
- -Oricon Chart Awards- Best Hit Award
- -Best Jeanist Association- Best Jeanist of the year
2004
- -HITO Awards Taiwan - Best foreign Artist
- -HITO Awards Japan - Moments
- -130 million people choose best artist award - Best artist
- -Best Jeanist Association- Best Jeanist of the year
2005
- -Best Jeanist-Best Jeanist - Now on Hall of Fame for winning best Jeanist 5 times.
- -130 million people choose best artist award - Best artist
- -HITO Awards Taiwan - Best foreign Artist
- -HITO Awards Japan - my name's WOMEN
- -Best Selling solo and female Japanese Artist Awards (Worldwide Award)
2006
- -Best Looking Female Solo Artist Japan & China
- -Rank 2nd Total Female Artist Album Sales [8]
- -Rank 1st Total Female Artist Single Sales (more than 20,000,000 single copies)
- -Oricon Awards - Rank 1st Hat Beauty [9]
- -Oricon Awards - Rank 2nd Summer Fashion Beauty [10]
- ayumi hamasaki official website (Japanese)
- Oricon Style
Find out more about Ayumi Hamasaki on Wikipedia
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Ayumi Hamasaki DISCOGRAPHY
