Distance

Distance is the third studio album by Japanese-American singer Hikaru Utada. Toshiba EMI released it on March 28, 2001, making it their second release with the label. Distance, like its predecessor First Love (1999), is influenced by pop music and R&B, with additional hip-hop, rock, reggae, and techno influences from Western music.

In Japan, Distance ascended to number one on the Oricon Albums Chart, while A Best debuted at number two. Distance sold 3,002,720 copies in its first week and became the fastest-selling album in music history, a record it held until 2015, when Adele's third album 25 sold 3.4 million copies in its first week in the United States. It topped the charts for two nonconsecutive weeks while being dethroned by A Best in the second week. Distance had sold 4,404,290 units by the end of 2001, making it the best-selling album of the year, with A Best coming in second. Utada also topped the annual singles chart that year with “Can You Keep A Secret?” and dominated the singles and albums charts for the year.