Original article here.

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44,000 Tweets about Hamasaki Ayumi’s Divorce = Instant News Spreading Through Chinese Twitter
18 January 2012.

On 17 January 2012, singer Hamasaki Ayumi announced her decision to divorce actor Manuel Schwarz, who is currently residing in the US. This shocking news about the famous, influential pop princess spread almost instantaneously through all Chinese media networks.

Along with the announcement, Japan news publicized the official reason for the divorce, as given by Hamasaki, but Taiwanese media were quick to retaliate, “Hamasaki Ayumi’s divorce is really because of dissatisfaction at her husband releasing a nude photobook”. The messaging platform commonly known as “Chinese Twitter” also listed “Hamasaki Ayumi Divorce” as one of their Top 10 keyword searches until 1pm this afternoon. Tweets related to this keyword amounted to about 44,000, highlighting the relevance of this news to the populace.

There were many comments from users of “Chinese Twitter”, such as “She went through that real quick” and “Oh, she was married?” There were also negative opinions regarding the reason for divorce, such as “This reason is really stretching it” and “If this is the truth, it would be more believable if she announced it much earlier”.

Other general comments include:

“Celebrity divorces and breakdowns are just to generate publicity…? If they told the truth, the attention will be gone almost immediately”
“She is such a rich woman, so why did she marry that unattractive foreigner? I don’t get it”
“A Japanese man will still be a better choice, foreigners rush into marriages and divorces too much?”

Original Japanese article here.

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Hinting at a Breakdown? Ayu: “My Heart was Bursting with Feelings of Apology”
17 January 2012.

Singer Hamasaki Ayumi (33) has announced her decision to divorce Austrian actor husband Manuel Schwarz (31) on the 16th, after their marriage in January last year. She will be filing for divorce in the US on the 17th (16th in US Time).

Since New Year’s Day last year, Hamasaki’s private life has been a hot topic. In August, she expressed antagonism towards staff members, regarding her appearance on a Live Event. The trouble continued when she did a last-minute cancellation of her appearance on TV Asahi’s “Music Station” 25th Anniversary Show in September.

On New Year’s Eve, Hamasaki made her 13th appearance on the Kouhaku Utagassen Show, as top batter for the 4th consecutive year. After that, she held a Countdown Live concert at the National Yoyogi Gymnasium. On 3 Jan (4th in Japan Time), she visited Hawaii for work purposes. During that time, she received congratulatory messages from fans, commemorating her marriage’s 1st Anniversary. To this, Hamasaki commented that “In addition to lots of gratitude, my heart was bursting with feelings of apology,” hinting that her mind has been in turmoil since New Year’s Day.

Original Japanese article here.

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Hamasaki Ayumi’s Speedy Divorce, “Unable to See a Future” with Manuel Schwarz, Triggered by a Photobook
17 January 2012.

After just one year of marriage, Hamasaki Ayumi has announced her decision to divorce. The singer, who filmed a PV together with Manuel Schwarz (Austria), got married to the man on New Year’s Day of 2011, after just 4 months of dating. This was not the only surprise; rumors of an unhappy marriage surfaced quickly after the marriage announcement, causing worry amongst fans.

As for the reason behind the divorce, Hamasaki commented.

“I alone was the cause for this. When we got married, we decided together that we were going to stay in the US, but when the Tohoku Earthquake Disaster happened 2 months later, a strong feeling of reluctance to leave Japan grew inside me, and I could not imagine myself living in the US. In the end, my husband was left by himself as the days went by. We often talked to each other and compromised, but as I cannot see a future in the US with my husband, we have come to this decision.”

After her marriage, Hamasaki promised her husband that they would live together in the US. However, her job required her to be based in Tokyo most of the time, so she and Schwarz, who lives in Los Angeles, entered into a long-distance marriage.

Nonetheless, there were quite a few unhappy fans who felt that she was using the disaster as an excuse to divorce, commenting that “Don’t use the disaster to cover up your domestic problems”.

According to sources, one of the reasons for the divorce was the fact that Schwarz released a photobook featuring nude shots without Hamasaki’s permission or knowledge.

Schwarz dedicated the photobook to “My beautiful wife, your Christmas present”. After viewing the photobook, which included suggestive shots of Schwarz’s nether regions, Hamasaki posted a comment on Twitter, “My heart was gonna almost STOP! LOL”. However, it was reported that she was privately unhappy with the idea.

Hamasaki will be filing for a divorce in the US today, 17 January.

Original Japanese article here.

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Hamasaki Ayumi: Mutual tweets of “I miss you”
17 January 2012.

On the 16th, artiste Hamasaki Ayumi annouced her decision to divorce Austrian actor Manuel Schwarz on her fanclub site “TeamAyu”.

Schwarz released a solo photobook titled “SUPER MANUEL” on 25 November 2011. In the days leading up to and following this release, hints of the two’s wavering feelings could be discerned from their tweets.

This photobook was shot by photographer Leslie Kee, who had undertaken many of Hamasaki’s projects, such as CD jacket photos and calendar photoshoots.

◆ “WE LOVE AYU”

On 23 November 2011, Kee tweeted about “SUPER MANUEL”, attaching a 「dedicate to Ayumi Hamasaki」 message to the tweet. He also added that this was “our LOVE & surprise to you” and “WE LOVE AYU”, indicating that he had done a private photoshoot with Schwarz.

Seeing this photo, Hamasaki exclaimed “My heart was gonna almost STOP! LOL” in English, expressing total shock.

◆ “I miss you” Tweets

On 27 November 2011, Hamasaki updated her own Twitter with the message “That’s a wrap on 1 of our videos!!! But it was very sad story…my hubby was on my mind all day..Miss my hubby;(((“.

To this, Schwarz tweeted the reply, “I miss you”.

From this, we can tell that in November, even though they were apart, their feelings for each other were still strong.

◆ “Preparing for my journey”

However, on the 14th of this month, Hamasaki tweeted that she was “preparing for my journey. I’m on my way to future…”, and that “How much we are apart is how far away we are, how much we are together is how close we are… Right?” These comments worried fans, who suspected that she might be hinting at a divorce.

The two met in August 2010 during the filming of “Virgin Road” PV (directed by Komuro Tetsuya) at Los Angeles. Hamasaki got to know Schwarz, who was acting as the husband, and the two started to deepen their relationship. They announced their marriage on New Year’s Day in 2011. Although the initial plan was for Hamasaki to migrate to the US, she felt a strong reluctance to leave Japan after the Tohoku Earthquake Disaster, and the marriage became a long-distance relationship. On 17 January 2012, Hamasaki announced her decision to divorce.

Original Japanese article here.

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Hamasaki Ayumi Lightning Divorce 1 Year After Marriage, Disaster an Excuse for Reluctance to Leave Japan
17 January 2012.

Late at night on the 16th, singer Hamasaki Ayumi (33) announced her decision to divorce Austrian-born actor Manuel Shwarz (31) on her fanclub site. The two of them registered their marriage in Las Vegas, America, on New Year’s Day last year. The divorce came just one year after their marriage.

According to comments on her site, Hamasaki’s first step will be to file for divorce on the 16th (17th in Japan Time). “I alone was the cause for this. When we got married, we decided together that we were going to stay in the US, but when the Tohoku Earthquake Disaster happened 2 months later, a strong feeling of reluctance to leave Japan grew inside me, and I could not imagine myself living in the US. In the end, my husband was left by himself as the days went by,” she explained.

On top of that, she also added, “We often talked to each other and compromised, thinking we could just breach the physical distance by travelling to see each other, but before we knew it, the emotional distance had grown too large. When I think of the future now, I can’t return to the person I used to be, the one who decided to migrate to the US. My future is to do something for Japan, and since I cannot see a future in the US with my husband, we have come to this decision.”

During August of 2010, the two met at Los Angeles, when they starred together in the PV for “Virgin Road” from “Love songs” album, and immediately hit it off. They announced their marriage on New Year’s Day last year. At that time, Hamasaki happily announced, “We are truly at the closest place to forever right now. Mannie, who acted as my hubby in Virgin Road, is going to become my real-life hubby!!!!!”

Original Japanese entry found here.

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CDL Again!
3 January 2012. 00:25:59

ayu’s Countdown Live
showed on wowow at 10pm 

I just watched the live on the 30th,
and now I’m able to see it again on TV so soon!! (//∇//) 

The setlists for 30th and 31st are a little different!
She didn’t perform Humming or evolution on the 30th 

Now, after the live broadcast,
it’s the endless stream of PVs now! 

wowow is God 

I’ll never be able to wake up tomorrow ( ´ ▽ ` ) (laugh)

Let’s hope for more lives in the coming year (=´∀｀)人(´∀｀=)

Sent from my iPhone