Take a Journey Through 25 Years of Hikaru Utada's Masterpieces: First Greatest Hits Album Science Fiction is Out Now

TOKYO, JAPAN – 10 April 2024 – After months of anticipation, iconic J-pop artist Hikaru Utada has released their first greatest hits album SCIENCE FICTION, which has already ranked no.1 on iTunes Mora. It's not a simple compilation of the legendary performer's most well-known works, but rather a space-time-bending trip through their 25-year career. Utada shares new songs and revisits legendary numbers, finding new angles on them more than two decades later.

The album features recent work “Naniirodemonai Hana (A Flower of No Color)”; a brand-new song called “Electricity”; newly recorded versions of “Addicted To You,” “traveling” and “Hikari”; ten songs in newly mixed versions, engineered by Grammy-winning mixing engineer Steve Fitzmaurice; and a special “Sci-Fi Edit” of their critically acclaimed song “Somewhere Near Marseilles” as a bonus track.

To celebrate the release of this highly anticipated album, a special video interview with Hikaru Utada about this best-of album has been shared, offering fans the artist's insights into their creativity, behind-the-scenes stories from the recording, and reflections on their legendary 25 years as an artist.

Furthermore, a special “Kuma-chan” AR (Augmented Reality) website has been launched to commemorate the artist's 25th anniversary. Using the AR function found on the website, fans can draw their own message against a sky background. After creating a message, Utada's ever-charming teddybear character Kuma-chan will suddenly appear from the wormhole. Utada themselves drew 23 new Kuma-chan illustrations for this special feature, and users are encouraged to share their messages with the hashtag #SF_KUMA. Additionally, fans can expect additional Kuma-chan campaigns including AR Kuma-chan collection using the album's back cover design as a marker, a special Kuma-chan that will appear exclusively at each HIKARU UTADA SCIENCE FICTION TOUR 2024 stop in Japan starting from July, and a Kuma-chan collaboration with Ayataka (a green tea brand operated by the Coca‑Cola(Japan)Company, Ltd.).

To watch the interview, please visit https://youtu.be/CA5ug28jlvE. To write and share your message with Kuma-chan, please visit https://sf-kuma.com. To see the guidance on the Kuma-chan AR experience, please visit https://youtube.com/shorts/bXsyiO1StCI.