Hikaru Utada, who is also known by the mononym Utada, is a Japanese-American pop singer, songwriter and producer. Utada has become one of the most influential and best-selling musical artists in Japan.
Exodus is the second English-language album by Japanese-American singer-songwriter Hikaru Utada, released on September 8, 2004 by Island Records under the moniker Utada. Her first English-language album called Precious was released under the name "Cubic U". After being discovered in North America by Island CEO Lyon Cohen when she contributed to the Rush Hour 2 soundtrack, he was very interested in signing Utada to his record label and she eventually accepted the offer. She traveled to Los Angeles to sign the contract and began recording the studio album straight after her signing. However, during the time frame from 2002 to 2003, Utada was diagnosed with a benign ovarian tumour that needed surgery and treatment. She also married her then-husband Kazuaki Kiriya, which stopped recording temporarily.
"Passion" is a song recorded by Japanese-American singer-songwriter Hikaru Utada, taken as the fourth single from her studio album Ultra Blue (2006). It premiered on December 14, 2005, in two physical formats and for digital consumption, distributed by EMI Japan and EastWorld. "Passion", alongside its English counterpart "Sanctuary", were used as the national and international theme songs to the Square Enix video game Kingdom Hearts II (2005); the tracks serve as the successors to "Hikari" and its English counterpart, "Simple and Clean", which are found on Kingdom Hearts.
"Hikari" is a song recorded by Japanese–American recording artist Hikaru Utada for her fourth studio and third Japanese language album, Deep River (2002). It premiered on March 20, 2002, as the third single from the album in Japan. It was written and composed by Utada, whilst production and arrangement was handled by Utada, her father Teruzane Utada, and long-time collaborator Miyake Akira. The single, and a remix by Russell McNamara, was used as the official Japanese theme song for the 2002 action role-playing video game Kingdom Hearts, and appeared on its original soundtrack respectively. Musically, "Hikari" is a pop folk song. Lyrically, it is about mysteries in life and human activities.
"Traveling" is a song recorded by Japanese–American recording artist Hikaru Utada. It was released as the second single from her fourth studio and third Japanese language album, Deep River (2002). The track was written and composed by Utada, whilst production was handled by Utada, her father Teruzane Utada, and long-time collaborator Akira Miyake. Musically, "Traveling" is a dance-pop song, influenced by house music. Lyrically, it discusses human activities and dreams.
"Wait & See (Risk)" is a song recorded by Japanese–American singer Hikaru Utada for her third studio and second Japanese language album, Distance (2001). It was released on April 19, 2000 as the second single from the album in Japan. It was written and composed by Utada, whilst production and arrangement was handled by Utada and American duo Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis. The single also included the two B-side tracks, "Hayatochiri" and "Fly Me to the Moon ", with the former song appearing on the parent album. Musically, "Wait & See (Risk)" is an R&B song, influenced by dance-pop and rock.
"Addicted to You" is a song by Japanese-American recording artist Hikaru Utada from her second studio album Distance (2001). It was released as the album's lead single on September 6, 1999 by EMI Music Japan. "Addicted to You" was written by Utada and produced by Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis; this is Utada's first collaboration with American producers and composers. The single artwork was shot by American photographer Richard Avedon and features two black-and-white figures of Utada. Musically, "Addicted to You" is an R&B song.
"Movin' On Without You" is a song recorded by Japanese–American singer and producer Hikaru Utada taken from their debut studio album First Love (1999). The song was written, arranged, and produced by Utada themselves, and it became their first ever hit. "Movin' On Without You" was written, produced and composed while Utada was attending college in Tokyo, Japan, during 1997. Utada, who received a record contract by Toshiba-EMI, had written an English-language version of the song, but the song remains unreleased.
"Flavor of Life" is Hikaru Utada's 18th Japanese single. The physical single was officially released on February 28, 2007.
The music of the Kingdom Hearts video game series was composed by Yoko Shimomura with orchestral music arranged by Kaoru Wada. The original soundtracks of the games have been released on three albums and a fourth compilation album. The soundtracks to the Kingdom Hearts games feature several musical pieces from both Square Enix and Disney works, including such pieces as "Mickey Mouse Club March" by Jimmie Dodd, "This Is Halloween" by Danny Elfman, and "One-Winged Angel" by Nobuo Uematsu. They also feature several vocal songs, the most notable being the four main theme songs: "Hikari", "Passion", "Chikai", and "Face My Fears." The two themes were written and performed by Japanese American pop star Hikaru Utada; in addition to Japanese, English versions of the first three songs were produced, titled "Simple and Clean", "Sanctuary", and "Don't Think Twice", respectively.
The Japanese multinational consumer electronics company Nintendo has developed seven home video game consoles and multiple portable consoles for use with external media, as well as dedicated consoles and other hardware for their consoles. As of September 30, 2021, in addition to Nintendo Switch, Nintendo has sold over 863.07 million hardware units.
Jam with the Band, known in Japan as Daigasso! Band Brothers DX, is a music video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS handheld game console. It is the sequel to the Japan-exclusive Daigasso! Band Brothers, which was released at the DS' launch. Jam with the Band was released in Japan in June 2008 and in Europe in May 2010. It uses the largest save capacity for a Nintendo DS game at eight megabytes. Its release was accompanied by a Wii Channel for the Wii console called the Live Channel, known in Japan as the Speaker Channel, that allows players to hear the game's sound through their television. It features the character Barbara Bat, who was also in the predecessor.
"Colors" is Hikaru Utada's 12th Japanese-language single, and is the only single they released in 2003. It was released on January 29, 2003, and debuted at number one on the Oricon charts with 437,903 copies sold in the first week, and became their fifth single to achieve two consecutive weeks at the number one slot, a comparatively rare feat. Two versions were released, CD and DVD.
The Nintendo DSi system software is a set of updatable firmware versions, and a software frontend on the Nintendo DSi video game console. Updates, which are downloaded via the system's Internet connection, allow Nintendo to add and remove features and software. All updates also include all changes from previous updates.
"Automatic" is a song recorded by Japanese–American singer Hikaru Utada, taken as the lead single from her debut album First Love (1999). It was released on December 9, 1998, through Toshiba-EMI in three physical formats: mini CD single, standard-size CD single and 12" vinyl. Additionally, the single included the A-side "Time Will Tell", which originally served as the B-side for these versions. The song was written and co-produced by Utada, while Akira Miyake and the singer's father Teruzane Utada served as producers. Despite working recording in English under the name Cubic U, "Automatic" is Utada's first Japanese recording, and was released after she enrolled into high school in Japan.
Utada Hikaru Single Collection Vol. 2 is Japanese pop singer-songwriter Hikaru Utada's second compilation album, released on November 24, 2010, by EMI Music Japan, the same day as her Universal-released English language compilation album, Utada the Best. The album includes two discs, with the first being a 13-track greatest hits album spanning 2004–2009, while the second is an extended play featuring new material. Along with Utada the Best, this remained Utada's last album release for six years, until 2016's Fantôme, due to an announced hiatus. Several of the new songs achieved commercial success, with "Goodbye Happiness" reaching number one on Billboard's Japan Hot 100 chart, and "Can't Wait 'Til Christmas" reaching number one on the Recording Industry Association of Japan's digital track chart. Both songs have been certified by the association as gold records for full-length cellphone downloads.
"Time Limit" is a song by Japanese musician Hikaru Utada. It was released as a double A-side single with the song "For You" on June 30, 2000.
"Sakura Nagashi" is a song by Japanese singer-songwriter Hikaru Utada. It was released by EMI Music Japan digitally on November 17, 2012, with a DVD single released December 26, 2012. The song is the theme to the third film of the Rebuild of Evangelion movie series, Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo, and was later included on their sixth Japanese-language studio album Fantôme, released in 2016. The single also marked Utada's last release under the then EMI-controlled EMI Music Japan as the label was absorbed into Universal Music Japan as EMI Records Japan in April 2013.
"8-3-1" is a song recorded by British singer Lisa Stansfield for her 2001 album, Face Up. It was written by Stansfield, her husband Ian Devaney, Richard Darbyshire from the 80's band Living in a Box and British singer Charlotte. "8-3-1" was produced by Devaney and received favorable reviews from music critics who called it the best track on the album and also the set's most obvious hit, the breezy, disco-laced anthem.
