Japanese pop icon Ayumi Hamasaki wrote on her fan club website on Friday that she would continue singing despite losing her hearing in her left ear.

Hamasaki said an ear examination last year confirmed her hearing loss.

"Despite this news, I still wish to be a singer," she wrote.

Hamasaki started to lose the hearing in her left ear in the summer of 2000 when momentary deafness forced her to cancel several concerts, according to a media report.

The singer will start her second concert tour of Asia in April to mark the tenth anniversary of her singing career. The tour includes 19 concerts around Japan. The venues in other Asian countries have not yet been announced.

(CRI January 7, 2008)