Ayumi Hamasaki

Ayumi Hamasaki (浜崎 あゆみ Hamasaki Ayumi, born October 2, 1978) is a popular Japanese singer originally from Fukuoka. In Japan, she is commonly called by her nickname Ayu. To this date, she released six full-length studio albums, one mini-album, two compilation albums, and 37 singles. She officially debuted in 1998 with her single poker face. She is the first Japanese artist to have her first original six studio albums top the charts.

Symbols

Ayumi Hamasaki uses a symbol to represent her name. Usually, when typed, the symbols are just replaced with the letters A, M, and H.

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The first A

The first time she used a symbol for a title was her tenth single A. The each strokes of the symbol represented the a-sides of the single - monochrome, Trauma, too late, and End roll. This is the only context that this symbol has only been used in, and she ceased to use this symbol after the invention of the second A.

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M

This symbol was only used for her 19th single M, which unlike A featured only one song. However, this symbol is still used whenever versions of the song M appears on a tracklist.

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The second A

The second A is not really an A, but a combination of her initials A and H. This has been used frequently since its first appearance as the A in LOVEppears in 1999. This symbol is also used in the A for the RAINBOW album (therefore, technically making her song RAINBOW that later appeared in A BALLADS not the title track) and the first A in A BALLADS. This symbol was prominently featured in the covers of SUPER EUROBEAT Presents ayu-ro 2, CYBER TRANCE Presents ayu-trance, and MY STORY Classical. Since the album A BALLADS, this symbol is always on the center of the very last page of the lyrics booklet.

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H

The H is a modified version of the second A where the top has been removed to look only like A. Its three strokes represent the three songs featured on the H single - independent, July 1st, and HANABI. So far, it has never been used outside this context.

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