I’d heard a lot of Asian people were rooting for me, but I had no idea. I was stunned. They were… impassioned, especially compared to Japan. I couldn’t even have anticipated that kind of welcome. – Ayumi Hamasaki
It sounds odd coming from me, but I realize what I say and how I look has a great impact. – Ayumi Hamasaki
I do what I love to do at the moment. If I wake up tomorrow and decide I want to dance, that’s what I’d do. Or design clothes. I think I’d throw myself into whatever I’m doing now. It’s not about abandoning what I was doing before, or giving up. It’s about knowing that if I die tomorrow, I lived the way I wanted to. – Ayumi Hamasaki
I understand it’s my role to realize people’s dreams. I’m O.K. with that so long as my songs are my own. No one can take my songs away from me. – Ayumi Hamasaki
It’s hard to decide how to match words to music. It’s not like it’s twice the work. It’s always difficult for me to explain to the composer what I’m looking for. I’m not a professional; I lack even basic knowledge about writing music. – Ayumi Hamasaki
The way I work, typically, I do everything at the very last minute. Even if I was given two months, I’d do it in the last three days. – Ayumi Hamasaki
I read and watch movies. I can’t go to the movie theater much anymore, though, because I get recognized. It’s worse sometimes if I wear a costume and try not to get recognized. I watch most of my films on airplanes. – Ayumi Hamasaki
If I write when I’m low, it will be a dark song, but I don’t care. I want to be honest with myself at all times. – Ayumi Hamasaki
I don’t set goals. Like, that’s what I want to be doing however many years from now. I do what I love to do at the moment. If I wake up tomorrow and decide I want to dance, that’s what I’d do. Or design clothes. – Ayumi Hamasaki
I don’t think you should meet the people you most admire. I don’t want reality to interfere with my image. – Ayumi Hamasaki
In the beginning, I was searching for myself in my music. My music was for me. I didn’t have the mental room to be conscious of the listener; I wrote to save myself. – Ayumi Hamasaki
I always like whatever I did most recently. It’s the closest to who I am at the moment. – Ayumi Hamasaki
