It was approximately one year agoーthe day of her 40th birthday no less, not long after the 25th anniversary of her debutーthat Amuro Namie announced she would be retiring on September 16, 2018. Born in Okinawa, she was part of a girl group before making her solo debut in 1995. Her second album “SWEET 19 BLUES,” produced by Komuro Tetsuya, was a huge success. With a string of hits under her belt, Amuro took the initiative and began self-producing her work starting with her 2003 album “STYLE”, and has since released 12 albums spanning a wide variety of genres. She also released an all-time best album titled “Finally” in the wake of her retirement announcement which has already sold well over 2.2 million copies, meaning that she has had million-selling releases in her teens, 20’s, 30’s, and 40’sーa record no one is sure to beat. Having reigned supreme as one of Japan’s top female singers, Amuro spent the last few months of her incredible career touring the country from February until June, performing 17 times at 5 different dome stadiums in Japan in addition to 6 other performances in 3 cities across Asia. Her concerts were attended by 8 million people, the highest ever recorded for a solo artist in Japan. Every night ended with the song “How do you feel now?,” a bittersweet yet positive number about looking back at the story between “you and I.” Perhaps that was Amuro’s way of eloquently telling her fans what was on her mind, given that she doesn’t say much on stage. After the diva of the Heisei era said her goodbyes to all her fans, she announced that a DVD & Blu-ray showing the tour titled “namie amuro Final Tour 2018 ~Finally~” would be released at the end of August, in addition to 4 exhibitions in 4 different places around Japan titled “namie amuro Final Space,” all with different content. The countdown has finally begun.
We weren’t able to touch directly on her retirement in this interview, but she did speak quite candidly about her 25 year career in broad strokes. Although she may be reserved with her words, they suggest quiet confidence and satisfaction.
ーYou were quite ambitious with all the things you took on this year.
Namie: Yes. Concerts are the only place I can share the music I chose myself with my fans, while being in the same place, breathing the same air as them. It’s one of the most enjoyable parts of my job.
ーWould you say that your focus on live performances influences the production of your releases?
Namie: It definitely does. I only include songs I’d like to sing at concerts on my albums. At the demo step, I only choose the songs I can picture myself singing and dancing to on stage. The rest are eliminated.
ーYou’re famous for not including talk segments in your live performances. I get this sense watching you sing and dance for two hours of how strenuous that is for you. When you’re standing on stage, are you still watching yourself with the calm and collected view of a producer?
Namie: For two-thirds of that first hour when the concert begins, I watch myself from the audience’s point of view. I worry a lot about whether everyone’s having fun. Of course, they’ll all be able to tell if I’m not enjoying myself, so I try to have fun too. Before long I forget all about it and just have the time of my life out there.
ーYour most recent tour “namie amuro Final Tour 2018” ended in June. What goals did you have for the tour?
Namie: I did this for my 20th anniversary tour as well, but the set list for this tour was chosen by my fans through voting. For me, the overall theme was just to have fun listening to the songs. I just wanted them to have fun without having to make things too over the top.
ーAnd wrapping up each concert was the song How do you feel now?, your first collaboration with producer Komuro Tetsuya in approximately 16 years.
Namie: I made up my mind that I’d be singing it at the end of my concerts as soon as I heard the song for the first time. It has such a positive feeling to it, it’s cheerful, and it puts a smile on my face listening to it. It just seemed natural to position it at the end.