Addendum

　　　　　　　　　1. The Amount of Work
　It seems 2002 was the year when she was mentally stable and full more than any other year before. I never felt uneasy about her except at the time of the tumult in the beginning of the year. But 2002 was also the year she did a great amount of work more than any other year before.
　Jan.-- The release of "I am ...". The special lesson to the elementary school students.
　Feb.-- The performance at MTV Asia Award in Singapore. Taking the photos for "Uraayu" in Hong Kong.
　Mar.-- The release of "Daybreak", "A Clips 2" and "Ayu-mix IV."
　Apr.-- The handshaking events in Hong Kong, Taipei and Tokyo. The release of "Free & Easy." The issue of "Uraayu" and "Hamasaki Republic." The starting of ARENA TOUR (21 times till June).
　June -- OPEN AIR LIVE (2 times).
　July -- STADIUM TOUR (8 times). The release of "H." The issue of "Uraayu Special Edition."
　Aug.-- Joining in the a-nation TOUR (10 times).
　Sep.-- The performance at the concert in Beijing commemorating the 30th anniversary of normalization of diplomatic relation between Japan and China. The release of "Voyage."
　Oct.-- The starting of her regular TV program, "Ayu Ready?"
　Nov.-- The performance at Asia Dream Live (NHK). The showing of the long music film "Tsuki ni Shizumu"(Sinking into the Moon).
　Dec.-- The release of "RAINBOW." Her winning Japan Record Award. The performance at Koohaku Utagassen (NHK). The Countdown Live concert 2002-2003.
　I've written down her activities of the year roughly. But they are only the main ones of course, and many appearances on TV, many interviews of magazines, making PVs and CMs, taking various photos and joining in various events should be added to in fact. Almost unbelievable that one person did such a great amount of work in a year. Why does she work so hard and hard? Was this awfully overcrowded schedule due to her intention or the outside requests?
　I have little idea. But supposing vaguely from some articles of magazine interviews, it seems that there were a lot of outside requests of work (including those from the management of avex), her manager formed the awfully overcrowded schedule based on them, and she manages to do the hard work without being able to refuse it. When she visited Singapore to appear at MTV Asia Award 2002 at the beginning of February, she gave the interview of "TIME" magazine and said,
　It is necessary that I am viewed as a product. I am a product.　　("TIME ASIA" Mar.25 2002)
　This resignation is sad. Does she really think it as all right at heart? Though I can hardly believe so ...
　Anyway, everyone would have a question whether she can keep her health with such a super hard schedule, and sure enough, she became in bad health at the end of the year. I hear she apologized to the audience in tears at the end of the live concert with the disappointing performance on Dec. 30. Her voice wasn't good at the Countdown Live concert next day, either, just like that of a year before, and she couldn't sing well in the high tones. (Her voice has been replaced in several songs in DVD. Not a good thing.) It seems there were several other live performances with similar conditions in 2002. Though she is a perfectionist in every way, it's incomprehensible that she doesn't look so regarding her voice only and looks as if she thought it would be enough to do her best then and there. (It's just the opposite of the manner of the common singers.) The voice cannot be covered up by the force of will.
　Glancing over English BBS's, I notice most of the foreign people who are the fans of Japanese popular music but don't appreciate her have written "Ayu can't sing", as the reason. I feel it regrettable every time I see such a post. Maybe they only see her in a bad condition and don't know how attractive her voice is when she is in a good condition. But, before that, I think it's serious to her as a singer that her voice condition goes up and down so sharply. As she is going on the first foreign tour this year, I think the key to the success is not the costumes, stage direction, dancing, English speech, but the voice. I hope she and her staff will make the schedule considering her voice first.

　　　　　　　　2. Advance Abroad in Japanese
　Many Japanese people believe that a Japanese singer must sing in English in order to advance abroad, which I think is a total misunderstanding, a wrong idea. For example, back in 1990's, such singers and groups as Matsuda Seiko, Kubota Toshinobu, Dreams Come True aimed to advance abroad (advance to USA, exactly speaking), all with unsatisfactory results. But on the other hand, Hamasaki Ayumi, who had never used English in her lyrics till her fourth album, has got more foreign fans than any other Japanese singers ever, and many of them rather like to understand Japanese. Or, let's think about the opposite case. Supposing Mariah Carey sings a song in Japanese or a mixed song in Japanese and English, for example, do Japanese people feel it as attractive? -- Maybe not. In other words, a singer should sing a song in his mother tongue basically, and in case he does so and still unpopular with foreign people, there is little possibility he will succeed even if he sings in a foreign language. English is necessary when we travel abroad, but not so specially when a singer is going to advance abroad.
　By the way, I'd like to clarify one of the hidden aims of grown-ups here. Among the singers who make public that they plan to advance abroad or the people around (of the talent agencies or the record companies), there are some who have never planned such a thing from the first. They do so or make the singer do so only to make topics or make the singer look more important, and their true purpose is not to gain overseas popularity but to sell CDs in Japan. Please be careful not to be talen in.
　Back to the subject, one more reason why I disagree with English lyrics is of the level. A bilingual person such as Utada Hikaru may be able to write a lyrics both in Japanese and in English on the same level. But she is exceptional, and even if a common Japanese who has only used Japanese in his daily life from the childhood tries to write a lyrics in English, it will be common that he can only write ones on the level of a junior high school student. Hamasaki Ayumi has the first-rate talent of lyrics, which she doesn't seem to recognize clearly. Though she can write the first-rate lyrics in Japanese, why does she need to write ones in English on the lower level? I don't say now she should not use English at all, as I thought the two songs out of three with English lyrics in this album were not bad. But I hope she will try her luck basically in Japanese. Wishing her success of advancing abroad.


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