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Singer Namie Amuro Gets Statue, Detective Conan Tribute to Mark Retirement

Japanese pop legend Namie Amuro retired from singing with her final concert on Sunday, the 26th anniversary of her debut. The Okinawa native also held a concert in the city of Ginowan, Okinawa on Saturday, leading to many hotels being completely booked throughout the prefecture. Because it marks Amuro's place of retirement from performing within the prefecture, Ginowan may become something of a "pilgrimage" site among the singer's fans, and the city now has plans to erect a bronze statue in her honor.

In light of Amuro's retirement, related events have been held throughout the prefecture, and restaurants and souvenir shops have also been playing Amuro's songs. A giant poster of Amuro has been posted on The Ryukyu Shimpo's building in Naha, where the singer is from.

Fans have come in droves from across Japan not only to see Amuro's final performance in Okinawa, but also to visit related events. Some fans even came from abroad from Taiwan and other locations. Amuro offered photographs and music to the prefecture to use on its tourism website for free. People accessed the site more than 181,000 times from August 14-23.

The head of Ryugin Research Institute Ltd. believes that Amuro's retirement and the resulting boost in tourism will have a significant financial impact on the prefecture. In addition to the statue, there are plans to build a chapel on the grounds of Amuro's final performance in Okinawa, and the the building's chime will be Amuro's "Can you celebrate?" song.

The impact of Amuro's retirement, however, reaches far beyond her home prefecture. Amuro was a frequent collaborator with The One Piece anime, and an animated special that shows her interacting with the Straw Hat Pirates aired in August. The Detective Conan also decided to pay homage to Amuro on the day of her retirement.

The official Twitter account for Takahiro Arai's Meitantei Conan: Zero no Tea Time (Detective Conan: Zero's Tea Time) spinoff manga tweeted a tribute image and message at midnight on Sunday. The image features Tōru Amuro holding a sign that reads, "Namie Amuro, thank you for the hard work!!" The tweet for the image reads, "Thank you so much for your hard work over 25 years."

Fans have been gushing over the tweet, and it has received more than 50,000 retweets so far. Commenters praised the "ikemen" character's tribute of the "beautiful woman" and noted that they make a fitting pair to share a name.

Sources: The Sankei Shimbun, Anime! Anime! (Kōtarō Nakase) via Hachima Kikō