Extremely speaking, it is alright even if my concert is messed up, as long as my audience and myself are both able to enjoy the show. I want to do a show that makes my audience think “I want to come again”. For me they’re gathered. My concert is where everybody can feel being united. For that reason, I am singing and dancing. That’s why I’m enjoying what I do, and I don’t want the audience who gathered for me to think “What is going on ?”. If I was one of the audience and saw NAMIE AMURO singing and dancing wild, I would think probably “She’s great” but wondering why she can be so tough. As a matter of fact, the real NAMIE AMURO up on the stage is very tired. Whether losing my breath or pitch, on the stage, I’m filled only with a feeling to complete dancing. The audience also expects me to sing and dance. I suppose they don’t expect me to be perfect, like not making any kind of mistake. I may sing the lyrics wrong or stumble a little bit while I dance, but that’s also who I am, not available on the television. The audience enjoys such NAMIE AMURO. So, I swear I want to sing and dance by myself even if I have a cold or my throat being in a bad condition. I have a fate that it wouldn’t work out unless you have a pride to a certain degree. I have to speak to myself over and over again to let a pride coming into myself, so that I’m able to sing and dance at the concert or on the television like I do all the time. At this moment, singing and dancing equals to all of me. I think I’ll keep doing this on and on. That’s all I have in my mind now. If I can’t dance any longer, I might sing rock instead of just dance music. In the future, I want to work on such music as well. But, for now, it is difficult for me to imagine myself in the far future. I may not be singing anymore. You know, I only expect to enjoy NAMIE AMURO of the future.

N.Y. is incredibly fashionable. I think it is the most progressive, top notch city in the world. The buildings aren’t only large but shaped in various styles. The sky which I saw from there, was obviously not the same on I knew from Tokyo. Last year, when I came to N.Y. for lessons, I was thinking just like in Hawaii or Saipan “I can communicate in Japanese. ” Such thought left me with a terrible stress. So, I really wanted to enjoy N.Y. this time. It’s a real regret that I wasn’t able to go to any night club. A bunch of fashion crowd must create cool fashion scenes, but there is a rule which won’t allow 21 years-old. I went to Gucci and Tiffany but I was very surprised to see so many Japanese people. I like silver accessories with less luster and went to Tiffany’s counter only to find designs are made mostly for adult women. In a punkish area of the city, I was shocked to see people in just one color fashion, like red, blue or green. There were homosexual people also. It is a real wonder to see such people at a cafe and having tea, like nothing special about it. I heard those people are very kind. This time, I felt like I’ve seen N.Y. from every corner on the streets to the other. I went downtown. I shopped many times at antique fashion boutiques. Riding on limousines was one of cool experiences I had. N.Y. makes me feel good. No one realizes me when I’m walking on the streets. I don’t need sunglasses or hats. I can walk without anything on my face. My favorite thing about this city is pizza. In N.Y., I don’t mind eating pizza for every meal. But, this time, I ate such a big lobster with scissors larger than my hands. It truly amazed me. I want everybody to try lobsters at least once when they go to N.Y. When I’m 21 years-old, I want to go to casinos in Atlantic City and night clubs. N.Y. is my favorite city. I want to go there for fun. But, not for living. Since I’m a girl, this city is too scary. Maybe with my friends would be fine, but I’m not brave enough to live alone. The place for fun may not be good for living. Such city is N.Y..

I hate to be alone and sad. I like when chatting with my friends. I can relax when I can frankly talk about myself, work or love relationships with my friends. There are times when I think to myself alone in the room. But that isn’t truly a relaxing time. I’ve always lived with my group members so it’s very lonely to be by myself all of a sudden. My friends are those members for sure. Sometimes I talk to my junior high school friends over the phone, but I’m in show biz which makes us apart in one way or another. So, I can be honest with those members who has been with me for 6-7 years and know my character. I want to be honest with the love relationships as well. To tell you the truth, I am very shy to talk about things like that. People often talk about an ideal guy. For instance, cool-looking, tall guy. Inside myself, there is such ideal also, but in my case, I always come to like the person different from the ideal. No matter how good-looking the guy is, if the feelings and character is awkward, forget about him. So-so looks but really kind, is the type of guy I fall for. I have various complex filled inside of me, so that I tend to like the person similar to myself, rather than the person with good looks but has no pain. The ideal is ideal after all. A good looks is why-not-grab-it level. My favorite type is fine, “soy sauce” kind of guy. Doesn’t necessarily has to bet all. But character must absolutely be good. Yes, a kind one. The person who thinks of me and who’s able to enjoy being together. My first love was when I was in third grade, but I was not really interested in relationships. It was nonsense for me to see everybody crying over guys problems, such as who goes out with whom and who broke up with whom. Then, I fell in love one time when I was in junior high, but soon I came to Tokyo and still was not interested in love. Actually, I realized something for the first time after falling in love. It is love that makes girls beautiful. If I fall in love with a guy, I wish to look cute in front of him. I want to have a child though I don’t want to get married. My own child must be so adorable. If I’m getting married, it will be after I get 30 years-old. I will try to do everything I can possibly do in my 20’s, and after that when there is nothing more, marriage may be my ideal.

Talking about fashion, I don’t really care about it. But I’m glad when everybody says “Nice” about my fashion on the television or magazines. It is even a mystery that people who look at me and talk about me share such social phenomenon as “AMRER”. I may have to be more committed to fashion. Although I don’t actually have such feeling, all the staffs support me. For instance, wearing boots and mini skirts is a result of going through thinking what makes my figure look better. I am really committed to these two items. Wearing boots reflects the priority of all reason “I’m short so let’s make myself look taller”, and mini-skirt “I look bad in pants style”. So, there you go, coordinate a mini-skirt and boots together. So, my figure would look O.K. Looking at such style and people simply say “Nice” to me. All I know is that “My figure looks terribly bad”. Everybody think I’m too hard on myself, but it’s true. Also, talking about my hair style, I don’t look good with my hair tighten. I don’t look good in it. So I have to have my hair down, but dancing and my hair being black looks too heavy. That’s why I have streaks and brighten my hair so that it looks lighter a bit. Actually, I want to try out for a short hair style. But there is a certain image about me that I dance with disheveled hair. I have always been anxious about my hair style. Cutting, short bobbed hair style, coloring. But none of them looked good on me. Now I finally found a hairstyle that suits me. So, I have no plan to cut my hair. Talking about make-up, I sometimes research on my favorite supermodel, Naomi Campbell. My current hair color has an influence of Naomi’s style. This photo book also has Naomi’s influence. My philosophy about being cool is “Usually such thing is never possible”. I tell you truth, I don’t really know what is about being really cool. But, I see overseas artists’ promotion video and photo books, and steal whatever that I feel “I can do this” or “Cool”. Anything cool that gathered all in me is making NAMIE AMURO exist today.

It is only 4 hours away from N.Y. by an airplane, but already Jamaica is a southern country. Yes, a southern country reminds me of Okinawa. Like Saipan or Hawaii, Jamaican trees and air seems similar to the ones in Okinawa. So, I didn’t think I’m in Jamaica when I arrived. But, while I was on the way from the airport to hotel, I gradually felt “It’s Jamaica here”, as I saw native people share riding a taxi and Rasta color clothes and hats at the stores. When I was choosing the Rasta color hats, those native people carrying black vinyl bag came to me and said “Sale, sale, it’s a good buy”. Inside the bag, there were mushrooms. What is that fragrance ? Such strange fragrance of people also made me recognize I was in Jamaica. At beaches, there were crowds braiding people’s hair. So, I gave a try. There was one beauty salon at the shopping center which per braid cost 2 dollars. The person who styled my hair had been braiding for 13 years, so it only took 40 minutes to get it done. My heart was refreshed and I felt good. I stayed at a hotel that Ralph Lauren designed and Paul McCartney stays all the time. It was a stylish villa and had four rooms. The lobby’s ceiling was so high it reached all the way to the top. There was a pool, and in front of it was such a beautiful ocean. The third day in Jamaica was my nineteenth birthday and I was pushed into the pool, and so kept on swimming. Why not. Reggae was great also. There was a birthday party held at the hotel and all the native reggae musicians played live music for me. It turned out to be my best memory. Paul McCartney’s villa had a notebook for the guests to write on, so I left some messages also. My fans can go there and read my message. Just for fun, I’m not going to tell what I wrote. I’m keeping a secret. When I was in Jamaica, the weather was not so good. Maybe clear in the morning, but squall or thunder in the afternoon with such a scale terrifying me so bad. So, I could not do anything, and therefore I slept till dead. By the way, in Jamaica, there is a saying that there will be peace as long as you say “yahmen”. I don’t really know the meaning of it but I kept saying “yahmen” because I felt peaceful as if to forget all about my work.

Now that I’m nineteen years-old, I take a look at myself, thinking nothing is changed from yesterday. It is just another step to be nineteen years-old. Speaking of steps, I will become twenty years-old next year. But I don’t see how I have changed. Maybe, I have actually grown. I guess I must be more responsible for myself. I have to gradually deal with such things at my age. Until now I was just a child, but it’s about time to prepare myself as an adult. Since my childhood, I’ve worked like this, many times scolded and taught by adults. Probably if I lived a normal life, I wouldn’t think this way or don’t bother to even think about it. To be honest, being nineteen years-old sets me to think “I want to stay as eighteen years-old”. At eighteen, my work and private life was well-filled. Whatever I did was fun. The work was always busy and tough, but enjoyed myself, sometimes speaking up selfish thoughts. I was just a child until then. The age I made my debut around fourteen to fifteen years-old was the most out-going period. I was so self-centered that I kept saying, “I won’t do anything else but to sing”. But after a while, I realized myself from this shock I got, “Just singing won’t do me any good”. Then, finally, I was starting to learn various things, seeking out for the world other than just singing. So far, the happiest moment in my life when I had a hit song. Many fans think “TRY ME” is my debut song, but there are about 4 CD’s prior to that tune. It was such a hard period with not hits at all in the chart. I believe I am able to support myself for that experience. If the sales were good from the beginning, definitely there will be a time to fall off and that’s when I have to be in pain for the first time. But, in my case, I went down first and rised above all the way here. Knowing such hard period inspires me to “Work on my effort” all the time. That’s why I’m able to enjoy this moment and feel happy. To be honest, “I want to stay as eighteen years-old”, but surely this time is consuming and I’m a year older. I have more establish NAMIE AMURO. I have to be more aggressive. But no one knows about the future. So, for now, I wish to live the way I want.

The next, next day after I arrived in Jamaica was nineteenth birthday. Coming back from the shoot for this photo book, 4-5 musicians welcomed me at the hotel. They celebrated my birthday with live reggae music. Listening to genuine Jamaican reggae was great. They played a reggae version of “SWEET 19 BLUES” at the end of their performance. For me, it was the best present. I even thought to release myself a reggae version of “SWEET 19 BLUES”. That day, I was pushed into the pool. I was supposed to be a heroine that day, so why would I think I’m the one who is going to be soaked in the water. I felt good thought, so I kept swimming without worrying about my wet outfit. The watch which a hair & make-up person gave as a birthday gift was another surprise. It is an originally made watch with 19 letter plates. Last but not least the most important celebration for my nineteenth birthday is this first photo book. In Jamaica, I was more natural than I can possibly be. I would be impressed if the fans realize NAMIE AMURO’s different kind of expression. My favorite shot is in N.Y. city under the big rain, with me standing in suits by the limousine. I really wanted this shot, because Naomi Campbell’s photobook also has this kind of photo with suits style in the rain. It was colder than I expected at the shoot, so my face was fierce and hard to tolerate the situation. Going through such and such makes this photo very special. I also wear swimsuits in this photo book. I never had a photo taken wearing swimsuits. But, come to think of it, “This book was for myself”. It is for me to see as well. So, it is no big deal to wear swimsuits for myself. In this photo book, I wanted to feature not those photos that you find in normal magazines with me singing and dancing, but in a simple style fashion or my face with completely no make-up. The bar code seal that I put on while staying in Jamaica is cool, isn’t it ? Turn the numbers under the bar to my birth year/month/date. In case of emergency, this code lets people know my address and name right away. My body itself becomes I.D.. I want to have a tattoo seal with such bar codes. To celebrate my nineteenth birthday, I present this photo book to everybody with such meaning implied in a title “19770920”.