Celebrity File Japan by Lint


		重要語句
■ If any person was born to be a famous singer, it has to be Hikaru Utada. She was born in New York City in 1983 into a musical family. Her mother is Keiko Fuji, a popular Japanese enka singer in the 1970s who suddenly retired and moved to America to "find a little peace." Her father, Teruzane Utada is a producer and musician who brought his young daughter into the studio at a very young age. Little Hikaru made her first recordings when she was seven years old. She was raised in both New York and Tokyo and has flown back and forth between the two so many times she cannot say where she has spent more time. Apparently she learned a thing or two from mom and dad as her first album, First Love sold 9.5 million copies, the best-selling CD in Japanese history. While such a success at such a tender age would go to most people's head, "Hikki" as her fans call her, lives a quiet life in New York City where few people realize just who she is.		back and forth　行ったり来たり apparently　どうやら…らしい a thing or two　多少の物事 tender　若い；未熟な
■■ Although she is often compared to Britney Spears, the two have very little in common. While Britney Spears seems obsessed with fame and glamour, Hikaru sees herself as a serious musician. In fact she writes her own songs. What has truly endeared her to her fans is the way she doesn't seem to live for fame. She has stayed in school and is a successful student at Columbia University in New York City where only a few students are aware that their fellow student is a singing superstar halfway around the world. "I can never really enjoy being famous. So when I can just take a walk and go grocery shopping in New York, it takes a huge load off my back and I feel great. I feel human again, almost." Hikki may not enjoy the quiet life much longer; in February of 2002 she signed a major record deal with a major U.S. record company and plans to release an album in English. Island Records is hoping that she will be the first Asian pop star to make it big in America.		compare to ...　…と比較する be obsessed with ...　…に取り付かれる fame　名声 see oneself as ...　…と自認する endear X to Y　XをYに愛されるようにする take a load off　くつろぐ make it big　成功する
■■■ She surprised her fans when she announced in September of 2002 that she had quietly gotten married at the age of 19 to photographer and video director Kazuaki Kiriya in a small, private ceremony. She met Kiriya while shooting the cover of her second album Distance. Their relationship deepened during the filming of her video Final Distance.		shoot　…〈写真〉を撮る deepen　深くなる
■■■■ Hikaru was born on January 19, 1983. Her main hobby is reading literature from Japanese and western authors such as Kenji Nakagami, Ryunosuke Akutagawa, Shel Silverstein and Herman Hesse. Her favorite musicians are Freddy Mercury (Queen), Miles Davis, Yutaka Ozaki and Jimi Hendrix.		literature　文学作品

－written by Brock Spore

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