Distance (Hikaru Utada album)

Distance is the third studio album by Japanese singer Hikaru Utada. Toshiba EMI released it on March 28, 2001, making it her second release with the label. Utada wrote and co-produced the majority of the album, alongside previous collaborators Akira Miyake and her father Teruzane Utada, as well as new collaborations with American producers Rodney Jerkins and Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis. Distance, like its predecessor First Love (1999), is influenced by pop music and R&B, with additional hip-hop, rock music, reggae, and techno influences from Western music.

Music critics praised the overall sound and production quality of Distance, earning her numerous awards and recognitions as a result of its critical success. Prior to its release, Distance was scheduled to coincide with the release of Ayumi Hamasaki's greatest hits album A Best (2001), which Avex Trax had organised. This resulted in extensive coverage in both Japanese and Western music media. Despite its marketing and competition, Distance was a huge commercial success, debuting at number one on the Japanese Oricon Albums Chart with the highest-ever first-week sales in music history, and eventually becoming one of Japan's best-selling albums.

To promote the album, Utada released four singles. All four songs were successful in the Japanese market, selling over a million copies and becoming best-sellers. The album's lead single, "Addicted to You," remains one of her best-selling releases to date. She then performed two shows in Japan: Bohemian Summer 2000 and a special Unplugged event, both of which resulted in live releases. Furthermore, a video collection titled Utada Hikaru Single Clip Collection Vol. 2 was released, which included all of the album's music videos.