Other activities

As well as serving as background music for television advertisements, some of Hamasaki's songs have been used as themes for video games, television shows and motion pictures. "Depend on You" and its B-side "Two of Us" were the opening and ending theme respectively of the video game Thousand Arms; the video game Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams used "Startin'" and "Rainy Day" as its opening and ending theme respectively. The dorama My Little Chef featured "Voyage"; the anime InuYasha featured "Dearest". The movies Shinobi: Heart Under Blade, Confession of Pain, and Kaidan used "Heaven", "Secret", and "Fated" as themes respectively.
In 2001, Hamasaki launched her own brand of clothing, MTRLG (Material Girl); the clothes were sold at MTRLG boutiques and at Mise S*clusive stores. On October 12, 2002, Fuji Television began airing Ayuready?, a talk show, on Saturday nights from 11:30 to midnight, hosted by Hamasaki and often featuring her performing songs with guests, among whom were Goto Maki, Puffy, and Akina Nakamori. To promote the program (and her album Rainbow), Hamasaki opened a restaurant, Rainbow House, on Shōnan Beach; it was occasionally used in episodes of Ayuready?. After less than two years, the last episode aired in March 2004. Also in 2002, Hamasaki created Ayupan, a cartoon version of herself that appeared in a line of merchandise (mainly figurines) and in a 2003 cartoon. In 2007, Hamasaki and Sanrio created a line of merchandise called Ayumi HamasakixHello Kitty; the products, featuring Ayupan and Hello Kitty together, were sold at Hamasaki's 2007 tour Tour of Secret and also online at mu-mo.net. The merchandise consisted of cell phone straps and Lumix cameras decorated with a picture of Hello Kitty behind Hamasaki's "A" logo;[ the former product was a result of a collaboration with Sanrio and Japanese fashion brand Ash & Diamonds, the latter a collaboration with Sanrio and Panasonic.