Tour of Secret

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Ayumi Hamasaki Asia Tour 2007 A -Tour of Secret-
Live album by Ayumi Hamasaki
Released	March 12, 2008
Genre	J-pop
Label	Avex Trax
Ayumi Hamasaki chronology
Ayumi Hamasaki BEST of COUNTDOWN live 2006-2007 A Ayumi Hamasaki Asia Tour 2007 ~Tour of Secret~ Ayumi Hamasaki COUNTDOWN LIVE 2007-2008 Anniversary

Tour of Secret
Tour by Ayumi Hamasaki
Start date	March 10, 2007
End date	June 10, 2007
Shows	13 in Japan 1 in Taiwan 1 in Hong Kong 1 in Shanghai 16 in Total
Ayumi Hamasaki tour chronology
Ayumi Hamasaki BEST of COUNTDOWN live 2006-2007 A	Ayumi Hamasaki Asia Tour 2007 ~Tour of Secret~	Ayumi Hamasaki COUNTDOWN LIVE 2007-2008 Anniversary

Tour of Secret is the first international concert tour held by Ayumi Hamasaki, one of Japan's best selling female artist. The tour mainly features songs from her 8th studio album, Secret and other fan-favourites. The tour started March 10, 2007, and ended in mid June of the same year. The DVD of the tour was released on March 12, 2008, a little over a year from when the tour started.

Contents 1 History 2 DVD & VCD Information 3 Tracklisting[2] 3.1 Disc 1 3.2 Disc 2 4 Charts 5 Stop in Taipei 6 Stop in Hong Kong 7 Stop in Shanghai 8 Singapore and Beijing 9 Ticket Sales 10 Tour Dates 11 Ayumi Hamasaki x Hello Kitty 12 See also 13 References

[edit] History

Hamasaki first spoke of a possible tour in Asia during a press conference at a-nation tour 2006 (A Japan-wide tour of avex trax performers). Several months later, Hamasaki officially announced on CNN that her first tour in Asia would take place in 2007. This is what Hamasaki stated during the CNN interview:

Now I'm just thinking about Asia, because I have Asia tour next year from March to end of June. Of course Japan too. This show, it's going to be real cool, no doubt! I think so or I hope so! So.. but if people will listen, I will go anywhere in the world!^[1]

Shortly after the interview was aired, the tour dates were revealed on Hamasaki's official website.

[edit] DVD & VCD Information

The DVD was released on March 12 in Japan, March 21 in Taiwan, and March 25 in Hong Kong. The VCD was released on March 28 in Hong Kong. It featured 120 minutes of live footage, including encores. Both the VCD and the DVD included a tour documentary spanning the time from her first rehearsals for the tour up through the final show -- condensing 150 days worth of tour into nearly three and a half hours worth of road movie footage.

It containes "exceptionally rare footage" never seen in past tour DVDs and VCDs that filmed only the final concerts. It included moments such as the wild reception of Ayumi's Asian fans, and songs performed at only a few stops during the tour ("Memorial address," "JEWEL," "momentum," and "flower garden").

Viewers who bought the DVD would be able to either watch the concert through with the documentary footage in-between or watch the concert first and then the documentaries after. Additionally, the DVD came packed in a special sleeve design as did the VCD.

[edit] Tracklisting^[2]

[edit] Disc 1

(DOCUMENTARY-1)
01. LABYRINTH
02. evolution
03. UNITE!
(DOCUMENTARY-2)
04. taskinst
05. 1 LOVE
06. until that Day...
(DOCUMENTARY-3)
07. M
08. appears
(DOCUMENTARY-4)
09. part of Me
10. Secret
(DOCUMENTARY-5)
11. kiss o' kill
(DOCUMENTARY-6)
12. Not yet
13. SURREAL

[edit] Disc 2

(DOCUMENTARY-7)
14. AUDIENCE
15. Boys & Girls
(DOCUMENTARY-8)
16. SEASONS
(DOCUMENTARY-9)
17. glitter
(DOCUMENTARY-10)
18. independent
19. Humming 7/4
(DOCUMENTARY-11)
20. Who...

[edit] Charts

Oricon Overall Sales Chart (Japan)

Release	Chart	Peak Position	Debut Sales	Sales Total	Chart Run
March 12,2008	Oricon Daily Charts	#2
March 12,2008	Oricon Weekly Charts	#2	46,512	71,295	10 weeks*
March 12,2008	Oricon Monthly Charts	#2
March 12,2008	Oricon Yearly Charts

[edit] Stop in Taipei

Upon Ayumi's arrival in Taipei, thousands gathered in Taiwan's international airport to get a glimpse of her on their own soil for the first time in five years. Hamasaki's arrival caused a large media frenzy. Although she had just travelled a long international flight, Hamasaki actually seemed more than delighted to be swarmed by fans and the media alike; constantly waving to fans and smiling for the cameras, all the while being surrounded by numerous bodyguards.

Her concert itself also caused a huge stir in the media and fans. Various shops and stores throughout Taiwan decorated their stores with Ayumi-themed posters and signs. The media had a field day with Ayumi's concert; interviewing fans on the street, covering all unfolding events, and even filming the concert hall with helicopter shots. The show itself was the same as in Japan. During the encore, Hamasaki spoke primarily English with Mandarin and Japanese phrases in the conversation.^[3] She even sang a chorus of the finale "Who..." in Mandarin. It was even reported that Taiwanese mega-star Jolin Tsai as well as other Taiwanese superstars had attended the performance. ^[4][5]

Ayumi had a promotional press conference in Taiwan. She stated how much she loved Taiwan, and that she felt bad that she could only perform there once during her Asia tour. Upon hearing the news of how quickly tickets sold out in Taiwan, she stated that in the next Asia tour, she would like to perform in Taiwan seven times. ^[6]

[edit] Stop in Hong Kong

After her successful stop in Taiwan, Hamasaki set off for Hong Kong where she arrived on April 3rd. Once again she was received by Hong Kong fans and media comparably to her arrival in Taiwan. However, security mesures were taken up a notch since her last stop; upon exiting the plane in Hong Kong's airport, Hamasaki's bodyguards reportedly knocked over a news reporter for touching her. Despite the extra security efforts, Ayumi appeared overjoyed to see her fans and media who had come to celebrate her arrival.

Soon afterwords, Hamasaki allegedly spent HK$500,000 (roughly $64,000 US) in thirty minutes^[7] while shopping at boutiques and shops throughout Hong Kong. When asked by a reporter how many shoes she bought, she replied "Not too many, only 20 to 30 this day."^[8] After buying shoes, she spent three hours eating local Hong Kong delicacies and snacks at Tsim Sha Tsui. Reporters noted that she had tried a little of everything. She arrived at her hotel at 10pm.^[9][10]

During her second day in Hong Kong, Hamasaki spent most of the day resting at her hotel. At approximately 5pm she headed to the Hong Kong Coliseum to assess the venue. She stopped and interacted with fans on her way. Hamasaki persisted on signing autographs despite her staff urging her to leave; thus she kept signing autographs as she walked.^[11][12]

Before the Hong Kong performance, a flyer was passed out to clarify Ayumi's 9th year anniversary which had passed only 3 days prior. The flyer urged the audience to sing the first 3 lines of Hamasaki's first song, poker face, before the encore.

[edit] Stop in Shanghai

Upon her arrival in Shanghai, Hamasaki launched a press conference with Avex China promoting the tour along with A Best 2, her newest album set. She wore a Qipao to the event. During her encore in the Shanghai concert, she told fans that she went to the Jade Buddha Temple (Yufosi) early after her arrival in the city to pray for a successful concert and for Asian unity.

[edit] Singapore and Beijing

Hamasaki's label was unable to schedule tour dates for Singapore and Beijing. According to the Singaporean news, no label there can afford Hamasaki to perform. Avex's CEO has also said on his blog that since Beijing is reconstructing their stadium for 2008 Olympic games, no venue is available for a stop.^[13]

[edit] Ticket Sales

As with most of Hamasaki's tours, most of the tickets were sold out within minutes. The tickets also sold surprisingly well in Asia. Tickets were sold out to the Taiwan concert in less than two hours.^[14]. Similarly, tickets were sold out in less than three hours in Hong Kong^[15] and within six hours in Shanghai.^[16] This left numerous fans begging organizers for an additional performance date.

According to a press conference in Taiwan, Hamasaki apologized for only having one concert in there. She stated that she hopes to have a week's worth of concerts in Taiwan next time.

[edit] Tour Dates

Japan
Date	City	Country	Venue	Venue Capacity
March 10, 2007	Saitama	Japan	Saitama Super Arena	15,000
March 11, 2007	Saitama	Japan	Saitama Super Arena	15,000
May 9, 2007	Yokohama	Japan	Yokohama Arena	17,000
May 10, 2007	Yokohama	Japan	Yokohama Arena	17,000
May 19, 2007	Yokohama	Japan	Yokohama Arena	17,000
May 22, 2007	Nagoya	Japan	Nagoya Rainbow Hall	8,000
May 23, 2007	Nagoya	Japan	Nagoya Rainbow Hall	8,000
May 26, 2007	Yokohama	Japan	Yokohama Arena	17,000
May 27, 2007	Yokohama	Japan	Yokohama Arena	17,000
May 30, 2007	Osaka	Japan	Osaka-Jo Hall	16,000
May 31, 2007	Osaka	Japan	Osaka-Jo Hall	16,000
June 9, 2007	Fukuoka	Japan	Marine Messe Fukuoka	8,500
June 10, 2007	Fukuoka	Japan	Marine Messe Fukuoka	8,500
Hong Kong
Date	City	Country	Venue	Venue Capacity
April 7, 2007	Hong Kong	China	Hong Kong Coliseum	12,500[17]
Taiwan
Date	City	Country	Venue	Venue Capacity
March 24, 2007	Taipei	Taiwan	Taipei Arena	15,082
Shanghai
Date	City	Country	Venue	Venue Capacity
April 22, 2007	Shanghai	China	Shanghai Grand Stage

TOTALS
Total Dates	Total Venue Capacity	Total Attendees
16	207,582+	185,000+

Note: The total attendee number is smaller than the venue capacities because of the large amount of space the elaborate stage took up. All venues were in fact sold out

[edit] Ayumi Hamasaki x Hello Kitty

A merging of Hello Kitty and the most famous female singer in Japan, Ayumi Hamasaki, has been made, and was first seen when the Tour of Secret goods became available on mu-mo on March 9, 2007. It is said they together "will make a new character". Ayumi is assumed to be depicted by her popular 'ayupan'. ("Ayu-Pan" is short for "Ayumi Panda".) In which she has large eyes that are said to make her resemble a panda. Ayumi, as the 'ayupan', is seen wearing the same clothes as Hello Kitty, overalls, with a bow on their heads. So far, we have seen a Mirror, and an ayupan of the Ayumi Hamasaki x Hello Kitty franchise. All other information on the Ayumi Hamasaki x Hello Kitty project between Sanrio and Avex is currently unknown. It is also unknown whether Ayumi Hamasaki x Hello Kitty will be released outside of Asia. This information was officially revealed on March 10, 2007 and came with a generally positive reaction from fans around the world.

Hamasaki released a statement on her official website about the new character:

I am so happy to have the opportunity to do a collaboration with the kitty that I've loved since I was a little girl. Hello Kitty has a special place in the heart of girls everywhere, no matter their age or nationality. My ASIA tour starts on March 10, and I'll be performing not just in Japan but in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Shanghai. We've created all sorts of tour goods as well as other Hello Kitty collaboration projects for the tour, and I hope you will enjoy them.^[18]

[edit] See also

• Secret (Ayumi Hamasaki album)

[edit] References