Self-styled 21st century pop queen Hamasaki Ayumi (28) finished off her ¥1.8-billion, 16-show Asian tour on Sunday. For the first time, she finished a tour with a concert in her hometown of Fukuoka, playing the Marine Messe convention center. The tour featured Ayu’s first solo concerts overseas, including dates in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Shanghai, and was seen by a total of 170,000 fans. Fukuoka fans were the first to hear her new single, “Glitter”, due to go on sale July 18. They also got a look at the 15-minute promo film, which was filmed in Hong Kong and features a kiss scene with actor Shawn Yue (25). Never one to hide her ambition to follow in Madonna’s shoes, the show also featured Ayu on a crucifix, though the imagery is meaningless for Japanese audiences.
• It seems that former idol singer Kokusho Sayuri (40) is back with her ex-husband, according to the “Shuukan Post” magazine. The two, junior high school classmates in Kagoshima Prefecture, married in 2000. He left behind a massage clinic business to move to Tokyo in 2002 but they broke up in August of 2003. According to the magazine, he took over the running of her management company in July of last year and the two are now living together in an apartment in the Shibaura district of Tokyo.