"Be My Last" is

Hikaru Utada , also known mononymously as Utada, is a Japanese and American singer, songwriter, and producer. She is considered to be one of the most influential and best-selling musical artists in Japan. She is best known by international audiences for w ...

's 14th

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

ese single, released on September 28, 2005. It was used for the 2005 film ''

Spring Snow is a novel by Yukio Mishima, the first in his Sea of Fertility tetralogy. It was published serially in ''Shinchō'' from 1965 to 1967, and then in book form in 1969. Mishima did extensive research, including visits to Enshō-ji in Nara, to ...

'', an adaptation of the 1966

Yukio Mishima Kimitake Hiraoka ( , ''Hiraoka Kimitake''; 14 January 192525 November 1970), known by his pen name Yukio Mishima ( , ''Mishima Yukio''), was a Japanese author, poet, playwright, actor, model, Shintoist, Ultranationalism (Japan), ultranationalis ...

novel of the same name. The cover art was taken in

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. The large, dark building shown to the left is

Prague Castle Prague Castle (; ) is a castle complex in Prague, Czech Republic serving as the official residence and workplace of the president of the Czech Republic. Built in the 9th century, the castle has long served as the seat of power for List of rulers ...

Promotion

Utada had five TV performances a month after it had been released, due to her promotional work in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

for the last ''

Exodus Exodus or the Exodus may refer to: Religion * Book of Exodus, second book of the Hebrew Torah and the Christian Bible * The Exodus, the biblical story of the migration of the ancient Israelites from Egypt into Canaan Historical events * Ex ...

'' album single, " You Make Me Want to Be a Man", which delayed her performances. The timing of these lives has also fit in with the release of ''Spring Snow''. Also planned with these live performances is an internet streaming of "Be My Last" available from Utada's Toshiba-EMI website. The streaming includes a performance as well as Utada answering a few questions from fans. It was available from the 11th until the 20th of November. On the television program performance at

Music Station , stylised in all caps, is a Japanese music television program. Broadcasting live weekly on TV Asahi since October 24, 1986, it currently airs from 9PM-10PM on Fridays. The program is also colloquially known as , , and . The show is currently sy ...

, Utada was accompanied with a cello as background music for "Be My Last" instead of the CD version which she had used for the other performances.

Aya Matsuura is a former Japanese pop singer and actress, from Himeji, Hyogo, Japan. Career 2000–2009: Hello! Project Aya auditioned in 2000 for the fourth Morning Musume & Heike Michiyo Protegee Audition and was selected along with Sheki-Dol to become ...

had also covered "Be My Last" on 30 October 2005.

Chart reception

"Be My Last" reached #1 on the first day of its release on the

Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics Statistics (from German language, German: ', "description of a State (polity), state, a country") is the discipline that ...

chart, and stayed the number one single of the week post that day. To date, "Be My Last" has sold at least 150,000 physical copies. In 2005, this single sold 143,916 units, making it the #70 single of 2005.

Covers

In 2014,

Kazuya Yoshii is a Japanese musician and singer-songwriter. He is best known as lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the rock band The Yellow Monkey. When they went on hiatus in 2001, before officially disbanding three years later, Yoshii started a solo ca ...

The Yellow Monkey The Yellow Monkey, sometimes abbreviated as , is a Japanese rock band originally active from 1988 to 2001, before officially disbanding in 2004. They announced their reformation in 2016. The band's name was derived from the ethnic slur that Ja ...

recorded the song for ''Utada Hikaru no Uta'', a tribute album celebrating 15 years since Utada's debut.

Track listing

Chart rankings

Certifications and sales

References

{{authority control Hikaru Utada songs 2005 singles 2005 songs Oricon Weekly number-one singles Songs written by Hikaru Utada Pop ballads Songs written for Japanese films