The first part of the article was written by a Japanese fan who wanted to remain anonymous, the second part is my opinon on the subject.
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On september 19th, yui visited TSUTAYA and TOWER RECORDS in Shibuya to leave written messages and get pictures of her taken in gratitude for the displays they had prepared to promote her new single. Both stores tweeted the pictures the same day. Thanks to that, we were able to see yui’s healthy appearance after the longest time.
But after a couple of minutes, the tweets were eliminated, and the polaroid picture was also removed from TSUTAYA store. Furthermore, the display that was mounted at TOWER RECORDS was removed entirely the next day. So the people planning to go to the store and see yui’s comments and pictures should be advised. There is nothing at TOWER left to see.
As of yesterday, TSUTAYA still had yui’s corner and her comment on display, but today is the launch of new releases so there is no guarantee they are still there. If someone is planning to go take a look it would be advisable to confirm first. They won’t show you the polaroid even if you ask for it. It looks like store employees were instructed to say “there is no such thing” when someone asks for the picture.
Actually, the polaroid was claimed personally by someone from Sony. These people are so backwards and old-fashioned they don’t realise when a picture appears on the internet there is no way to make it disappear. They really show a lack of understanding of the current world.
They have become an annoyance to everyone. Including TSUTAYA, TOWER RECORDS and above all, to yui herself and her fans.
This record company can’t do their job squarely, and if her management office can’t manage their artist properly either, I’m seriously thinking maybe it’s time to take more drastic measures.
From their previous studio sessions, FLOWER FLOWER have created a great number of songs. Considering the value of those studios and the schedule of the respective band members, the cost must be pretty significant, so maybe there is nothing they can do about it.
Both Sony and Stardust should start promoting their artist the way they deserve.
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Many hated me for the way I treated yui’s staff during yui’s absence. “Why can’t she write two lines in her diary?” Is all I wanted to know all this time. I always felt Sony and Stardust were building a wall surrounding yui. Keeping her from being herself.
It was either that or that yui really had lost interest in her career. But I wouldn’t take the latter. In the end I was led to accept all this happened because it was yui’s choice. “She needs more privacy”, “She wants to focus on her kids”, “The staff is doing all they can!” and those kind of BULLSHIT excuses.
In the end I was right all along. There was something in the equation that was missing. She has been trying to contact the fans, and since she can’t use HER OWN website, she went to music stores so they would help her. And they gladly did. But even there, Sony’s claws were swift to delete the evidence. Everything makes sense now.
This is probably the reason yui hasn’t written a yui diary in more than a year, and the reason we have never seen her face except for a couple of distant shots just recently. It’s not because she doesn’t want to, but because Sony won’t let her do so. What are they even trying to do? This really looks like a half assed boycott.
