Utada Hikaru

Profile

Name: 宇多田ヒカル (うただひかる)
Name (romaji): Utada Hikaru
Real name: 宇多田光 / Utada Hikaru
Nickname: Hikki
Profession: Singer, songwriter, producer, and composer
Birthdate: 1983-Jan-19 (age 40)
Birthplace: New York City, New York, United States
Height: 158cm
Weight: 45kg
Star sign: Capricorn
Blood type: A
Family: Father/musician/producer Utada Teruzane (宇多田照實), mother/singer Fuji Keiko (藤圭子), and son (b. 2015-Jul-03) with ex-husband/bartender Francesco Calianno
Talent agency: EPIC Records Japan

About Utada Hikaru

Utada Hikaru was born in Manhattan on January 19, 1983. She is the daughter of Utada Junko, a well-known singer of traditional Japanese music, better known by her stage name of Keiko Fuji. Her father is music producer Utada Teruzane (Teruzane Sking). She spent much of her childhood between New York and Tokyo, always influenced by the world of music thanks to her father and mother. During her childhood, groups like the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Metallica, The Police, and Dr. Dre were the ones that would leave a mark on her and would mark Utada's musical style. At 13, Toshiba-EMI contacted her to write pop songs in Japanese, which she would then release on her first and most successful album, First Love, at the age of 16 in 1999.

More about Utada Hikaru

TV Shows

Hero (Fuji TV, 2001, ep8) cameo

TV Show Theme Songs

Time, from Bishoku Tantei Akechi Goro (NTV, 2020)
Hatsukoi, image song from Hana Nochi Hare (TBS, 2018)
Forevermore, from Gomen, Aishiteru (TBS, 2017)
Hanataba wo Kimi ni, from Toto Nee-chan (NHK, 2016)
Eternally, from Innocent Love (Fuji TV, 2008)
Prisoner of Love, from Last Friends (Fuji TV, 2008)
Flavor of Life, insert song from Hana Yori Dango 2 (TBS, 2007)
Sakura Drops, from First Love (TBS, 2002)
Can You Keep A Secret?, from Hero (Fuji TV, 2001)
First Love, from Majo no Jouken (TBS, 1999)

Movie Theme Songs

Anata, from Destiny Kamakura Monogatari (2017)
Be My Last, from Haru no Yuki (2006)
Dareka no Negai ga Kanau Koro, from Casshern (2004)

Anime Theme Songs

Sakura Nagashi, from Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo (2012)
Beautiful World PLANiTb Acoustica Mix, from Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance (2009)
Beautiful World, from Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone (2007)

Videogame Theme Songs

Don't Think Twice, from Kingdom Hearts III (2019)
Simple and Clean, from Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep (2010)
Simple and Clean, from Kingdom Hearts Re: Chain of Memories (2007)
Sanctuary/Passion, from Kingdom Hearts II (2005)
Simple And Clean/Hikari -PLANITb remix, from Kingdom Hearts (2002)

Trivia

Education: Seisen International School, American School in Japan (ASIJ), Columbia University
Languages: English and Japanese
Favorite writers: Kenji Miyazawa / Kaiko Takeshi, Ryunosuke Nakagami Akutagawa/ Yasunari Kawabata / Natsume Soseki /"Kusamakura" Yukio Mishima / Junichiro Tanizaki / Hermann Hesse / "Wildfire" Endo Shusaku / Roald Dahl / Oscar Wilde / Shel Silverstein / Edgar Allan Poe / Elie Wiesel / John Berendt / F. Scott Fitzgerald / George Orwell
She has sung all the theme songs for the Kingdom Hearts game series, such as "Simple and Clean" and "Sanctuary".
She was only 10 years old when she started to write music and lyrics.
On August 22, 2013, Utada’s mother, died by apparent suicide by jumping from the thirteenth floor of a 28-floor condominium building in Shinjuku, Tokyo.
She was married to Japanese photographer Kazuaki Kiriya from September 7th, 2002 to March 2nd, 2007 and then a bartender, Francesco Calianno, from May 23rd, 2014 to April 6th, 2018.
Her favorite movies are those of Hayao Miyazaki.
On her official website, Utada cites 15 musicians and composers that have influenced her the most: Freddie Mercury, Cocteau Twins, Nine Inch Nails, Jimi Hendrix, Prince, Edith Piaf, Chick Corea, the Blue Nile, Bjork, Lenny Kravitz, Bela Bartok, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Jeff Buckley Yutaka Ozaki, Hibari Misora, and then later listed Aaliyah, and Mary J. Blige.

External Links