TV: Scrip: One of Japan's most famous singing stars, Ayumi Hamasaki, has revealed that she has gone deaf in her left ear.<br /><br /> Hamasaki, 29, is a pop icon in Japan and influential across other parts<br />of Asia, with dozens of number one hit singles and albums to her name.<br /><br /> She has a string of concerts set up for the spring, according to her<br />official Web site which she vowed to go on with despite the ear problem.<br />Sports Nippon newspaper reported on Thursday (January 10) that Hamasaki had<br />left Japan for Italy to film a commercial. "Last year I had a hearing test and found out my left ear was not functioning at all and that there was no way of curing it," another<br />newspaper, Sankei Sports, quoted her as saying in her blog, which is open only<br />to registered members of her fan club, earlier in the week.<br /><br />"But I want to keep singing as long as my right ear holds<br />out," Hamasaki added to the newspaper.<br /><br /> Many young residents of Tokyo were shocked and sorry to hear of their<br />top star's ailment. <br /> "I sing in a band and so I know how difficult it must be for her<br />to have lost even partly her hearing. It's a real shame," said Yuri<br />Fukuro (pronounced Yoo-ree, Foo-koo-roh), a 19-year-old student who said she<br />was not necessarily a fan of Hamasaki's but enjoyed her music<br />nevertheless.<br /> "She rules at the top of the J-pop pantheon so the fact that she's<br />lost her hearing is a big deal," added Tomonori Hayashi (pronounced<br />Toh-moh-noh-ree Hah-yah-shee), a 21-year-old Tokyo resident who said he worked<br />in the music industry.<br /> The singer, who is also a hugely successful model, whose fashion sense<br />has inspired many imitators, is celebrating 10 years since she reluctantly<br />launched her career after being persuaded by a music producer she met by<br />chance. Hamasaki just released her latest album "Guilty" in Japan on<br />January 1st, 2008.
