Hikari

is a song recorded by Japanese–American recording artist Hikaru Utada for her fourth studio and third Japanese language album, Deep River (2002). It premiered on March 20, 2002, as the third single from the album in Japan. It was written and composed by Utada, whilst production and arrangement was handled by Utada, her father Teruzane Utada, and long-time collaborator Miyake Akira. The single, and a remix by Russell McNamara (under the alias PlanitB), was used as the official Japanese theme song for the 2002 action role-playing video game Kingdom Hearts, and appeared on its original soundtrack respectively. Musically, "Hikari" is a pop folk song. Lyrically, it is about mysteries in life and human activities. Upon its release, the track garnered positive reviews from music critics. Many critics highlighted the track as one of Utada's best singles, and commended her vocal abilities and songwriting. It was also successful in Japan, peaking at number one both on the Oricon Singles Chart and Tokyo Broadcasting System's (TBS) Count Down TV singles chart. It was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ) for physical shipments of 800,000 units. An accompanying music video was shot by her then-husband, Kazuaki Kiriya; it features Utada washing dishes and drinking water. It was performed on some of her concert tours, including the Utada United and Wild Life tour. To promote the international formats of Kingdom Hearts, Utada re-recorded an English language version entitled "Simple & Clean". Both the original edit and remix version by PlanitB served as international theme songs. It did not appear on Utada's English studio album Exodus (2004), but the original version was included on her 2009 English studio album This Is the One. It was later released as an A-side 12-inch single with Utada's single "Colors" in 2003, and received positive reviews from most music critics. Background and release In February 2000, Japanese video game artist Tetsuya Nomura announced the development of an action role-playing video game named Kingdom Hearts. According to Nomura, he only had Utada in mind to create the theme song for the video game, so he had contacted them to collaborate; as a result, she accepted his offer. In a brief interview with IGN, Nomura further stated; "Her music has moved millions of fans, and I was absolutely thrilled when she agreed to contribute to this project.