Deep River (Hikaru Utada album)

Deep River
Studio album by Hikaru Utada
Released	June 19, 2002
Recorded	2001-2002
Genre	J-pop, alternative rock, R&B, experimental, dance
Length	54:54
Label	EMI Music Japan
Producer	Hikaru Utada, Akira Miyake, Teruzane Sking
Hikaru Utada chronology
Distance (2001) Deep River (2002) Utada Hikaru Single Collection Vol. 1 (2004)
Singles from Deep River
"Final Distance" Released: July 25, 2001 "traveling" Released: November 28, 2001 "Hikari" Released: March 20, 2002 "Sakura Drops/Letters" Released: May 9, 2002

Deep River (stylized as DEEP RIVER) is the third Japanese studio album (fourth overall) released by American-born Japanese J-pop star Hikaru Utada, released in June 19, 2002. It sold just over 2.35 million copies in its first week of release ^[1] (much like the 2,026,870 units by First Love and 3,002,720 by Distance in their debut sales week), easily debuting at #1 on the weekly, monthly and eventually yearly charts of the Oricon Albums chart. Deep River is Japan's 5th highest album in debut sales.

The final track, "Hikari", would be her first single to reach #1 on the Oricon Weekly Singles chart three times, and would be the Japanese version of the theme song for Square Enix's smash hit RPG video game, Kingdom Hearts. The song has an English version, "Simple and Clean," that would accompany promotion of "Kingdom Hearts" in the Western Hemisphere and elsewhere. That song would give Utada's voice and music its first major mark of international recognition. The album was Utada's most acclaimed work to date by fans and critics alike, and earned her the Triple Crown at the 17th Golden Disc Awards.^[2] DEEP RIVER is the 8th highest selling album in Japan of all time.^[3]

According to IFPI the album is listed at #18 on the Top 50 Global Best Selling Albums for 2002^[4]

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Hikaru Utada. 

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Sakura Drops (SAKURAドロップス, Sakura Doroppusu?)"	4:58
2.	"Traveling"	5:14
3.	"Shiawase ni Narō (幸せになろう?, Let's Be Happy)"	4:46
4.	"Deep River"	4:37
5.	"Letters"	4:48
6.	"Play Ball (プレイ・ボール, Purei Bōru?)"	4:14
7.	"Tokyo Nights (東京NIGHTS?)"	4:43
8.	"A.S.A.P."	4:56
9.	"Uso Mitai na I Love You (嘘みたいな I Love You?, The Dubious I Love You)"	4:49
10.	"Final Distance"	5:38
11.	"Bridge (Interlude)"	1:09
12.	"Hikari (光?, Light)"	5:02

All songs were arranged by Kei Kawano and Hikaru Utada.

Except:

• 1. "Sakura Drops" - arrangement: Hikaru Utada and Kei Kawano (the order of the name was changed)
• 7. "Tokyo NIGHTS" - with string arrangement: Kei Kawano
• 8. "A.S.A.P." - arrangement: Yuichiro Honda, additional rhythm track arrangement: Kei Kawano & Hikaru Utada
• 10. "Final Distance" - with string arrangement: Neko Saito

Singles

Date	Title	Peak position	Weeks	Sales
July 25, 2001	"Final Distance"	2	13	582,120
November 28, 2001	"Traveling"	1	21	856,140
March 20, 2002	"Hikari"	1	13	598,130
May 9, 2002	"Sakura Drops / Letters"	1	10	686,720

Charts

Deep River - Oricon Sales Chart (Japan)

Release	Chart	Peak position	Debut sales	Sales total	Chart run
June 19, 2002	Oricon Daily Albums Chart	1
June 19, 2002	Oricon Weekly Albums Chart	1	2,350,170	3,605,000	56
June 19, 2002	Oricon Yearly Albums Chart	1

References

1. ^ ORICON STYLE - Weekly album chart： 1st week of July 2002
2. ^ RIAJ - 17st Japan Gold Disc Award 2003
3. ^ —ð‘ãƒAƒ‹ƒoƒ€ƒ‰ƒ“ƒLƒ“ƒO
4. ^ IFPI Top 50 Global Best Selling Albums for 2002 Retrieved 2011-04-08