Ayumi Hamasaki

No superlative seems too great in describing the success achieved by Ayumi Hamasaki in the decade since her debut in 1998. She sold more than 50 million CDs, she claimed a bevy of top-league chart records, and the scope and size of her presence in the show biz world would suffice for the entertainment industry of a whole country: she's a fashion icon with her own brand of clothes, her songs were used in movies, TV shows, and anime series, she had a cartoon about herself, she hosted TV and radio shows, and even opened a restaurant. Perhaps the crucial point of her successful career, modeled after her icon Madonna, was the degree to which she retained control over her own media persona, not relinquishing it to labels and agencies (although that took some fighting). Her beginnings couldn't be more humble. Abandoned by father at three, Hamasaki had to work as a model from the age of seven just to make ends meet. A bright but rebellious kid, she dropped out of school to try her hand at modeling, but failed due to her short height. Her musical debut -- a hip-hop EP Nothing from Nothing (1995) -- went nowhere, and her stabs at acting never got her farther than TV shows and B-movies. Hamasaki began wasting her time shopping and singing in Tokyo karaoke bars, which was where she met Max Matsuura, the producer from Avex Trax with an eye for potential stars. Matsuura was impressed by Hamasaki's singing and offered to sign her to Avex. Hamasaki initially refused, expecting his motives to be less than chaste, but eventually believed he was serious. She dropped out of Japanese vocal school he enlisted her in, complaining the teaching was too rigid, but Matsuura sent her to study singing in New York, which went better. Reading Hamasaki's well-written letters, Matsuura also encouraged...