2014

Because she wants to quit from “Rising Pro”, she’s fallen into a dire situation. Apparently she’s pissed off a lot of people in the entertainment industry for the way she’s trying to go independent even after receiving “exceptional treatment”. If she continues with this stubborn attitude, then there’s no doubt there’ll be no one in the business industry who wants to work with her, and she’ll be driven to virtual retirement.

It seems like she’s at the point where she can no longer turn back from her request for independence. Though her contract is set to expire in February of 2017, Namie demanded to be released from her contract this May. Moreover, she went to her management’s office with a tax accountant the following month, and asked “To raise the royalties she receives” and “Transfer the rights of her music to her new private company” – all things her management is unlikely to do. Right now it seems like they’re at a deadlock.

One person in the music biz stated, “Namie’s actions, which completely disregard the rules of the music world, seem to be known by everyone in the music biz now, and they’re all pissed off at her. If she can’t find a solution, it seems like they won’t cooperate with her anymore. She’s been driving into a situation where she cannot let the public know her actions.”

“Even if she’s not releasing anything, she’s guaranteed 800,000 yen a month. She also gets half from the sales of her live and tour goods. The cancellation of her 20th Anniversary Live in Okinawa because of a typhoon put her company in the red, but there was no risk for her. She makes about 600,000,000 yen annually.”

Because she has such a strong voice in how things go at the office, it was decided that her work would be done at her own pace.

Also, because of her selfish attitude, her managers are often replaced. Though she calls herself a “slave”, such a blessed “slave” has never existed. The other day she apologized in writing for her “slave contract” remark.

Amuro and Rising Pro president Taira Tetsuo met when Amuro was a 6th year in elementary school, and, since then, they’ve had a father-daughter relationship. Has that been twisted to being beyond repair? There’s also the presence of a male promoter behind the scenes. That would be Nishi Shigehiro, president of the event producing company “On The Line”.

Currently, Amuro and Mr. Nishi live in the same apartment building on different floors. “Amuro basically doesn’t trust anyone; she’s the type to only listen to those she trusts. She would hang around with no-good men during the days of her big break, and skip her work to go to pachinko halls with men. Mr. Nishi is the only one she says she can trust. She says things like, “Mr. West can do anything, so I feel relieved when I rely on him”.” Says the same person from above.

As her relationship with Mr. Nishi grew stronger, her relation with her management continued to grow worse, and last April an even causing a huge rift between Amuro & Mr. Nishi and her management company happened. This was the cancellation of her performance in Singapore. Though Mr. Nishi was in control, only about 2,000 tickets of a 12,000 capacity venue were sold.

“Frankly, the likelihood of failure was great. But we still wanted to put on a show for her fans who had bought the tickets and were looking forward to her performance. We informed Mr. Nishi about our intentions, but he decided to cancel the performance. The office didn’t hear about the cancellation until the last minute either” says someone involved in the record company.

Because of this last minute cancellation, the management company in Singapore flew into a rage and, last December, filed a suit for approximately 50 million yen from “On the Line”. But even with this situation, Amuro’s confidence in Mr. Nishi hasn’t shaken. Like this, it seems her day in the spotlight is close to fading out.