Ultra Blue

"Ultra Blue" is the sixth album by Japanese–American singer Hikaru Utada, released on June 14, 2006 by EMI Music Japan. It is the first original Japanese language album under Hikaru Utada's name in four years since her third album Deep River (2002). While the arrangements for her album Deep River were done collaboratively, all but one of the songs on Ultra Blue were written, composed, and arranged solely by Utada, who also did the programming herself.

In this album, the R&B elements that have been present since her debut are further diminished, and the majority of the songs have an electronic flavor with an emphasis on synth sounds. Utada also stated that with this album, she was able to "acknowledge all of her good and bad parts and express them without hiding them," and her choice of words in the lyrics became livelier and freer than before.

Ultra Blue contains 13 songs, including 6 singles released between 2003 to 2006. The album sold 500,317 copies in its first week and debuted at No. 1 on the Oricon Albums Chart. By the end of the fiscal year it became 2006's best-selling original album by a Japanese female soloist. During the first week of release in Taiwan, the album was responsible for 26% of Japanese music sales. It was also the fourth most downloaded album of the year on iTunes Japan, and was certified as a million-seller by the Recording Industry Association of Japan. During summer 2006, Utada held a nation-wide tour to help support the album called "Utada United 2006".