A: Utada Hikaru distinguishes her two careers by name. Under Island/Def Jam, she is known by her last name "Utada", but under Toshiba-Emi, she is known as "Utada Hikaru" (in Japan, they address individuals by last-name-first, first-name-last basis). The name "Hikki" (NO! It is NOT some love mark!) came about, suppositly, when she lived in the US and her friends could not pronounce her first name, so the nickname they gave her was "Hikki". In Japan, many fans refer to her as "Hikki" for short.
Q: Why can she speak good English?
A: Utada Hikaru was born in Manhattan, New York. She spent time schooling in the US and Japan (International school. My friend was in her art class)
Q: Who is Cubic U??
A: Cubic U is the pseudo name that Utada Hikaru went under releasing her first album (which was in English!)
Q: How many albums does she have?
A: She has released 6 albums in total: Precious (Under Cubic U 1998), First Love (1999), Distance (2001), Deep River (2002), and her US album (2004).
Q: Who writes her songs??
A: She writes the majority of her lyrics and music. There are some cases where she collaborated with other people (eg. Cubic U days and "Distance" album).
Q: Is she single?
A: NO! For those of you new to her, Utada Hikaru married her music video director Kazuhiro Iwashita (Better known as Kiriya Kazuaki). When Hikaru got hitched, she was 19 and he was 34 (yes, it is a big age difference). Kazuaki is also the director for the Japanese movie "Casshern". (btw, Hikki's next single in Japan is for this movie!).
Q: Has she ever collaborated with any other artists?
A: Yes. In her Japanese career, she has done songs with Foxy Brown (Blow My Whistle), Shena Ringo (I Won't Last a Day), Kuzu (Kaze ga Fuiteru), Smap (Special live), and Ohguro Maki (Promise I Do). She has also worked with Rodney Jerkins (Time Limit) and the Neptunes.
Q: Was Hikki ever hospitalized?
A: Yes. In April 2002, Utada Hikaru had a benign tumour removed from her ovary. She was reported to be ill during this time but has since recovered fully.
Q: Is it true that Utada Hikaru and Ayumi Hamasaki (another Jpop artist) are rivals?
A: Not to my knowledge. Lots of Hikki and Ayu fans like to post this question on forums and it gets redundant. There has NEVER been any known grudge between these two popstars (in fact, it was rumoured that Ayumi sent flowers to Hikki when she was hospitalized). The only rivalry they have are in the Japanese music industry and the rivalry that fans create between themselves.
Q:When will her next single be released?
A: Your guess is as good as mine. Just visit both her Japanese and US sites and check into the Hikaru News section on UHELP.
Q: What the @#$% is Chuichi???
A: Chuichi was the name of Hikaru's father's cat. She also created a cartoon cat based on her pet and markets merchandise like dolls, bags, keychains etc... You can visit the site here at chuichi.ne.jp.