"First Love" is a song by the Japanese-American singer-songwriter

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 ...

. It was released on April 28, 1999, as the third Japanese language single from her second studio album, '' First Love'', which was issued a month previously. It was certified double platinum for 800,000 copies shipped to stores in Japan. In a 2009 survey by Oricon, asking respondents what song they wanted to hear with a broken heart, "First Love" was voted in the top 10. "First Love" was performed during Utada's 2010 tour, Utada: In the Flesh 2010. It was also performed during Utada's two-date concert series '' Wild Life'' in December 2010. The song and " Hatsukoi" from her 2018 studio album of the same name inspired the 2022

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series ''

First Love First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

''. In December 9, 2022, "First Love" was remixed alongside "Hatsukoi" in

Dolby Atmos Dolby Atmos is a surround sound technology developed by Dolby Laboratories. It expands on existing surround sound systems by adding height channels as well as free-moving sound objects, interpreted as three-dimensional objects with neither horiz ...

Promotion

The song was used as the theme song for the Japanese drama ''

Majo no Jōken (English title: ''Terms for a Witch'') is a drama series that aired in Japan on TBS in 1999. This drama features Nanako Matsushima of ''Great Teacher Onizuka'' fame and Hideaki Takizawa of the idol duo Tackey & Tsubasa. Synopsis Michi Hirose, ...

'', starring

Hideaki Takizawa , also known professionally as , is a Japanese businessman, record producer and former singer and actor. He is the president of the Japanese talent agency Tobe. Takizawa debuted as an actor in 1995, and in 2002, he made his musical debut as the ...

and

Nanako Matsushima is a Japanese actress and model. She is best known for starring in the horror film ''Ring'' (1998) and the drama series '' A Story of Love'' (1997) and '' I'm Mita, Your Housekeeper.'' (2011). The latter's final episode reached a viewer rating of ...

. "First Love" is featured in the

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Unison Unison (stylised as UNISON) is a Great Britain, British trade union. Along with Unite the Union, Unite, Unison is one of the two largest trade unions in the United Kingdom, with over 1.2 million members who work predominantly in public servic ...

'', released in 2001.

Track listing

Personnel

* Hironori Akiyama – guitar * Yuichiro Goto – strings * Takahiro Iida – synthesizer programming * Kei Kawano – arrangement, string arrangement, keyboards, programming * Masayuki Momo – synthesizer programming * Hikaru Utada – lyrics, music, vocals * Goh Hotoda - mixing engineer

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications and sales

Release history

Juju version

"First Love" was covered by the Japanese R&B singer Juju in 2010, on her cover album '' Request''. It was the main promotional single, and was released as a digital download to cellphones on September 15, 2010. Juju performed the song at ''

Hey! Hey! Hey! ''Hey! Hey! Hey! Music Champ'' was a Japanese music variety show on Fuji Television hosted by the comedy duo Downtown, which consists of Hitoshi Matsumoto and Masatoshi Hamada. It is a very popular show with comical hosts who like to pick on thei ...

'' on September 20.

Charts

Release history

Other cover versions

* (1999, violin, album ''Pure Moment'') * (2007, on the album ''Innocent View'') *

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(2008, on the album ''Guilty Pleasures 3'') * (

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) (2008, digital single) * (2008, on the album ''Standards 3'') *

Jake Shimabukuro Jake Shimabukuro (born November 3, 1976) is a ukulele player and composer from Hawaii known for his fast and complex finger work. His music combines elements of jazz, blues, funk, rock, bluegrass, classical, folk, and flamenco. Shimabukuro has wri ...

(2008, ukulele solo, DVD ''Ichigo Ichie'') * (2009, saxophone, on the album ''Vocalese'') * (2009, digital single) * feat. Maki (2009, on the album ''

Exit Trance is a Japanese media company that acts primarily as a music publisher. The company was founded as a printing company in 2001, however later became a music company known as Quake Records in 2003. In 2005, the company was renamed to Quake Holdings. ...

Presents Dramatic Trance Memorial Daiichiwa'') *

Hideaki Tokunaga is a Japanese pop singer-songwriter and actor. Although Tokunaga failed to pass the test of '' Star Tanjō!'' in 1982, he debuted as a recording singer in 1986. After he released hit songs such as " Yume o Shinjite" (the first ending theme of ...

(2010, on the album ''Vocalist 4'') * Eric Martin (2010, on the album '' Mr. Vocalist 3'') *

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(2010 on the album '' Covered: Winter'') * May J. (2013, on the album ''Summer Ballad Covers'')

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:First Love (Hikaru Utada Song) 1999 singles Hikaru Utada songs Songs written by Hikaru Utada Contemporary R&B ballads Japanese television drama theme songs 1999 songs Songs about heartache 1990s ballads