BREAKING: Mao Hamasaki REFLECTS On Her Abrupt Retirement

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Just last week, I covered Mao Hamasaki breaking into the mainstream TV industry, that too, in a new country. The news had broken, and Mao was at the event addressing fans & press simultaneously. There was likely no official confirmation from her side until now.

For the unversed, it’s already been two years since she retired. Two years since Mao Hamasaki stood on the TRE stage and made an unexpected announcement that created ripples in her fanbase.

While reflecting on it now, she admits something interesting. She wasn’t completely sure she’d made the right decision. She was quite hesitant: "Deep down, I’d occasionally been thinking it might be time to retire! However, every time I met fans, every time I saw the staff during shoots, and every time I ran into actress friends I’m close with, I’d cling to the thought, “I want to stay as Mao Hamasaki just a little longer!”"

Mao addressed her fans that at the time, the retirement happened abruptly without much preparation, and honestly, that is how it seemed. With no clear idea of what came next, she was in doubt for a while. Mao wondered whether the decision had simply been a momentary impulse, whether she’d made the right choice. "Honestly, I haven’t really thought much about what comes after retirement! I’m sure there will be times when things don’t go well! At times like that, I hope that somewhere in your hearts, you’ll be thinking, “Go for it, Mao-chan!”... This is my one last selfish request!"

Mao wrote in her retirement tweet, "To all my fans in Japan who have always supported me, I'm retiring. I know I caught you all by surprise. I’m sorry! I’m truly grateful to have been able to work in this industry as Mao Hamasaki for 13 whole years. Thank you so much."

But it has been two years since that incident, and a lot has changed. Mao says she’s finally realized that life doesn’t have to follow a single predetermined route: “Life isn’t limited to just one path.”

It seems like all of her taking the blind leap is finally coming into fruition. Because after exiting the JAV industry, Mao simply didn’t disappear. She traveled rigorously for her DJ gigs, met new people while discovering different cultures, and eventually, she stuck to building a new life in Hong Kong.

More importantly, Mao says the people she encountered along the way gave her a kind of warmth and strength she’d never experienced before. And that changed how she views goodbyes now. “Parting ways isn’t the end,” she wrote.

Instead, she now believes that sometimes saying goodbye is precisely what allows something new to begin. That’s quite a different perspective from someone who announced her retirement during TRE 2 years ago, and perhaps that’s why she decided to venture into the photobook territory now to start over.

The collection is titled Asuka, a name she says carries meanings connected to “a place of peace” and “a warm, welcoming place.” For Mao, that simply means being connected to Hong Kong.

A new home. A new identity and perhaps most importantly, a new beginning. Furthermore, she confessed how frightening that decision actually was.

Taking such a huge leap without knowing where the road would lead left her spending countless sleepless nights worrying about the future. But eventually, she realized something simple. You can’t discover a new life without taking the first step, and so she did.

“Hello. I’m Asuka. If this photo collection helps you get even a small sense of the real me, that would be wonderful. It would be a great source of strength if you could watch over me as I begin this second chapter of my life! I hope this photo collection will be a source of joy for you twice over.” The former JAV actress turned DJ wrote in her letter.

Mao shared some stills from her latest photobook with fans on X.

And now, two years after that famous farewell, Mao has another message for the woman she was back then. “I still don’t know where the road ahead will lead, but right now, I’m truly happy.”

I think that says a lot; Mao has ultimately found peace with herself. Perhaps that’s enough.

She ended her message with gratitude toward the version of herself who found the courage to leave everything familiar behind. “Thank you for finding the courage back then. And thank you for never giving up.”

After everything Mao Hamasaki has experienced since that farewell, I think those words might be the perfect way to describe her second chapter. And if you, as fans, would like to support her in this phase of her life, you can simply do so by purchasing her photobooks & make it worth the leap for her. So if you ever thought erotic content would cease to exist once Mao has left JAV, you were totally wrong!

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