Hikari (Utada Hikaru song)

"Hikari" (光?, lit. "light") is Hikaru Utada's 10th Japanese-language single (12th overall), and is also her 3rd single on the Deep River album. Its release date was March 20, 2002.[1] It is the main theme song for the Japanese release of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Square_Co. Squaresoft] (now Square Enix) and Disney Interactive video games Kingdom Hearts[2], Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, and Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep. Utada was the only singer that Tetsuya Nomura, the director of Kingdom Hearts, had in mind for the Kingdom Hearts theme song.[3] This also marked the first time Utada had produced a song for a video game.

The English language version of the song, titled "Simple and Clean", was used in the English release of Kingdom Hearts. Although the two songs share a similar melody and background music, the meaning of the lyrics is significantly different. "Simple and Clean" was also used in both Japanese and English-language releases of Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories. Utada stated that she couldn't get the same meaning she wanted to portray in "Simple and Clean" as in "Hikari", so changed the chorus melody to the one used in "Uso Mitai na I Love You", also on the Deep River album.

Track listing

 * 1) Hikari (光) - 5:02
 * 2) Hikari (PLANITb Remix) - 5:46
 * 3) Hikari (Godson Mix) - 4:39
 * 4) Hikari (Original Karaoke) - 5:01

Music video
The music video (directed by Kazuaki Kiriya) for "Hikari" is a simple one. Utada washes dishes, and enjoys a glass of water through its course. Utada, in an interview, explains how she enjoys washing dishes at home as well, which contributed to her making this music video.[citation needed]
 * "Actually we were to shoot the PV of 'Hikari' with him (Kazuaki Kiriya) but it didn't come true due to his scheduling conflicts at the last moment and that's why we requested Kiriya urgently to shoot that dish-washing video." --Hikaru Utada [4]

(They were able to reach Kazuaki Kiriya eventually, but they had no time to shoot a complex video.)

Reception
The single proved to be very popular. It hit #1 on Oricon charts for a lengthy three weeks, selling 270,370 in its debut week.[citation needed] By August 2002, it had sold over 598,130 copies in Japan.[3]

Charts
"Hikari" - Oricon Sales Chart (Japan)