Links

“Ayumi Hamasaki.Org – The Ayumi Hamasaki Online Community”

Mostly known for its message forums with several categories for pop star’s Ayumi Hamasaki including, general news, questions about the singer or the Japanese music industry. There is also a biography and multimedia section featuring several full length music videos from Japanese MTV.

Hamasaki Republic

This is a fan site devoted to j-pop artist Ayumi Hamasaki and her music This site features, general information about the artist, up-to-date news, discography, image galleries, music samples, lyrics, reviews and interactive features. In depth look into the artist’s self produced lyrics of various songs and translations. Upcoming events and released dates listed albums (currently only available in Japan).

Japan-A-Radio

North American based Internet radio, featuring many Jpop artists, up-to-date and plays all modern billboard songs. This site also features a chatroom, forum and news about upcoming conventions.

Japan Travel Guide, Japanese Popular Culture, History and Japanese Etiquette

A website dedicated to all things Japanese. This site has a lot of information on Japanese movies, musicians, actresses, etc. Has a brief description of Ayumi Hamasaki as a pop icon in Japanese culture and names her “one of the people shaping modern Japan”. This gives another look at Japan’s entertainment side as a whole rather than focusing on one artist.

J-POP: Japanese Music

This site offers an explanation on recent trends in Japanese popular music. This site is a great site for all aspects of Japanese Culture, entertainment, technology, industry etc.

Japanese music on Encyclopedia.com

A long explanation of Japanese music of the past and how it influences today’s JPOP stars.

Junk Magnet – Music – JPOP – Ayumi Hamasaki

This site contains a short article on pop star, Ayumi Hamasaki, discography, and some links to the official Japanese site and to other websites translated into English.

Japanese Rock: A Dream waiting to come true

An article discussing the differences between Jpop and American pop culture, for example, the age of audience that is focused on is 12-16 in Japan whereas in American culture it is 16-20