Japanese music's First Love

In 1999, Japanese American singer Utada Hikaru released her debut major-label album, First Love in her parent’s home country of Japan. The album skyrocketed Utada into superstardom, and the album has subsequently become the highest selling Japanese album of all time. Hikaru has thus become one of the most prominent artists in Japan. She is a talented artist and songwriter, who, despite her American origins and major success in Japan, cannot seem to break into the American music scene.

Hikaru was born in Manhattan, New York City in 1983 to Teruzane and Junko Utada, who was a record producer, and an enka (traditional Japanese music) singer respectively. Her parents’ involvement in the music industry led Utada into her first musical recordings with her mother under the name of U3. Utada recorded her first album at the age of twelve in the United States under the name of Cubic U. The album was not successful, and Utada moved to Japan to attend the Seisen International School and later the American School in Japan, and received her first record deal with Toshiba-EMI. She released First Love in 1999 opening with her first single, “Automatic/Time Will Tell.” The single sold 42,210 copies in the first week of its release, eventually becoming the 19^th best selling single in Japan. Utada’s success only continued to grow with each subsequent album.

Utada has recently tried to break into the American music industry. She has released two American albums, Exodus and This is the One, through Island/Def Jam records, however, each album has failed to equal the success of her very first Japanese debut album, or even her subsequent Japanese albums. Her single, Come Back to Me, made it to number 5 on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play, however, that is the extent of her success on the Billboards. I personally am a fan of her music and her work, and have met her on two occasions, however, despite her talent and perfect American English, she does not seem to have the same sort of reception one would expect from an artist of her caliber.