It’s better that I have a rival. To shake me up.

This is popular singer Namie Amuro, whose first single of the year was Go Round/YEAH-OH. Her outfit today, with its attention-grabbing yet simple, summer African taste, looks novel and refreshing.

I like this style, I enjoy the African flair and the accessories. It’s easy to put something like this together that uses vivid colors as a focus point. At this point in my life, I think bold and daring is what I do, so it’s nice to attack this type of fashion a bit.

One area where this aggressive attitude of Amuro shines is in her music. Once again, this is her long-awaited original album in two and a half years. It includes “Sit! Stay! Wait! Down!” and “Love Story,” two songs able to stir the female heart, “In The Spotlight(Tokyo),” a dance floor anthem, “ONLY YOU,” an electro tune sung with a low, adult voice, the so sexy, electro R&B dance shocker “Hot girls,” and others. Moreover, the CD+DVD edition is packed with 11 music videos, her most ever for an original album. It is one album filled with a “never before seen Namie Amuro.”

I tend to feel it’s better for me to have a rival. The rivals I picture in my head are the new people debuting each year. I constantly wonder how I’ll be able to stand up to their fresh energy. Like, well if it were me, I’d do it this way, and if I were to come from there, I’d do it this way. Thinking like that, I get a feeling that shakes me up while I try to stay composed, it’s really enjoyable.

In her new album, we see the image of an independent female who enjoys life to the fullest. But sometimes, she hits a wall, maybe sheds tears over lovers and work. Of course, this type of adult woman facing troubles of life and love also possesses the sensitivity similar to that of a younger lady. She says that she feels like she is at a suitable age now to express songs like these.

In my teens, I didn’t have any sort of experience with love or romance. I was somewhat standing on my tippy toes whenever I tried to sing those more adult-like songs. My age has finally caught up with the atmosphere of those tracks, and I think I’m able to succeed in many different of areas of music now. There were several things that obviously changed in my 20s when it came to how I thought and how I acted towards my career. In that era, I may have taken a lot of risks and challenges, but now I’m able to enjoy the present without feeling incomplete*. Therefore, all that stuff is fun and interesting for me. I’d say the fun factor increases working like that, and as I continue to do things this same way, it keeps me on my toes, wondering what will happen next (laughs). But these are things I probably couldn’t do when I was younger, so with that, I think my 30s will be enjoyable for me with whatever I do.
*Incomplete because she didn’t take those risks. Didn’t know if that comes across in my translation.

 

The key to her beauty is in the fridge

Amuro is famous for “getting more beautiful and lovely as the years go on.” Perhaps an effect of cutting her bangs that she announced around the time of her appearance in GISELe’s January 2012 issue, it seems she has had some joyful little happenings in her private life recently.

Around the time right after cutting my bangs, a male stranger approached me out of nowhere and said, “Ah, I called out to you because I thought you were my very gorgeous older sister”(laughs). He didn’t realize I was Namie Amuro, and in calling me “his gorgeous sister,” I got a bit excited. Glad I cut my bangs (everyone bursts into laughter).

As for that popular aura of hers, it seems that it has also been the effect of certain drinks she says she has been obsessed with lately.

I’ve been buying many acai and enzyme beauty drinks. Especially the enzymes! They seem to be doing me some good. I’m awake by 6:30 every morning on weekdays, and I wake up feeling great. So after I get up, I feel energized. Until recently, I never really fell asleep before midnight, but lately, I’m sound asleep by 11:30. I think it may be because I have been drinking that stuff every day? Well, maybe not, but my fridge is stocked full of these beauty drinks. When I ordered them, I was so anxious waiting for them to arrive that I couldn’t sleep at night (laughs).

This manner is usual for the funny and cute Amuro. But on stage, she is a highly-skilled singer and entertainer expressing her extraordinary fierce dancing and singing. In order to demonstrate her true ability, she will be holding a one night show in Okinawa on September 16th for her 20th Anniversary. This summer, she expects to be busy with daily rehearsals.

Pretty much every summer, I am busy with rehearsals. I may have been raised in Okinawa, but I like the snow season for some reason, so even in the summer, I never really feel like, “yeah I’m gonna go to the beach!” Originally, I was at a loss of what to do whenever I went, seeing as how I can’t swim. Speaking of, one time I was sitting on the beach someplace, and there was some person crossing the sea in front of me while swimming butterfly style. Like, the sea? Doing butterfly strokes? And what’s more, they were crossing it!? I was like, oh there’s another use for the ocean, swimming butterfly as much as you like in the open sea. I recall now the considerable shock that gave me. (laughs)
*The translator has troubles to understand this paragraph

 

She’s reached the 20 year mark since her debut, but she still has a long way to go.

In November, she will be holding a 20th anniversary dome tour. This will be a big turning point for her at 20 years, but Amuro says, “my challenge-everything attitude isn’t gonna change.”

I never really feel like, “I’ve been doing this for 20 years.” Whenever I think about my debut days, I feel like, yeah, good times. But considering all these months, years I spent growing up on my own, I’d say my way of thinking is still fresh. It’s not a feeling I’d describe as “I’ve been working for 20 years,” but rather “okay, my debut is turning 20 years old,” so I believe that there must still be more for me to do.