Hikaru Utada releases their new single Intentions as a digital single on Wednesday 25 November 2026. The song is the theme of JR Central’s GOOD DAY EXPRESS campaign for the Tokaido Shinkansen, and its cover is a painting by YUKIKO NORITAKE, a Japanese illustrator who lives and works in Paris.
Viewers in Japan have been hearing it since late August, when the first advert went on air with Utada in it. A pre-save campaign with prizes opened on 31 October, and five Sony Stores in Japan start playing the full song on 6 November, nearly three weeks before it reaches streaming services.
Intentions Was Written for JR Central’s Supreme Class Advert
JR Central launched GOOD DAY EXPRESS on 27 August 2026 to promote the Tokaido Shinkansen, the bullet train line linking Tokyo, Nagoya, Kyoto and Osaka. Its first advert, a 30 second spot named after the new Supreme Class Cabin, began airing the following day across the Tokyo, Shizuoka, Nagoya and Osaka areas. Utada’s official announcement confirms that they appear in the advert and that Intentions was written for it.
Supreme Class itself began running on 1 October 2026 and gives the line its first fully private cabins. Trains that carry it have a cabin for up to two people in car 7 and a single cabin in car 10, each with a reclining seat, a lockable door and dedicated Wi-Fi. A one way Nozomi journey from Tokyo to Shin-Osaka costs ¥60,500 in car 7, with a second traveller needing only their own ticket for the same train, and ¥42,100 in car 10, booked through JR Central’s EX Reservation and Smart EX services.
Virginia Woolf’s A Room of One’s Own Shaped the Song
Utada’s own note on the song starts from the value of having time and space that belong to you. They point to Virginia Woolf’s 1929 essay A Room of One’s Own, which argues that a woman needs money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction.
Utada also asked which rules freedom really depends on. Writing Intentions, they say, gave them the courage to let go of something in order to protect what matters.
YUKIKO NORITAKE Painted a Sunlit Study Under a Green Ceiling
The cover is a bright study with a desk, a record player and a small red chair. Its ceiling has turned into a mass of deep green, and green crystals are drifting down onto the floorboards. Set beside Utada’s note about a room of one’s own, the painting reads like a portrait of that room.
NORITAKE was born in Aichi Prefecture, near Nagoya, in 1989 and moved to Paris in 2015, graduating in illustration from the École de Condé in 2018. She paints in acrylic, often with nature at the centre, and her picture books for the French publisher Actes Sud include Voyage au pays des odeurs and Forêt des frères. More of her work is on her Instagram.
Pre-Save Intentions for a Wallpaper or Pre-Order on iTunes for a Handkerchief
Anyone who pre-saves the song on Apple Music, Spotify or Amazon Music through the official campaign page gets an exclusive phone wallpaper. Pre-ordering on iTunes also enters a draw for one of 100 handkerchiefs printed with the cover art.
Entries close at 23:59 on Tuesday 24 November, the day before release. The page sets no country limit, but it is run from Japan, so UK fans are safest entering by the afternoon of the 24th. Only winners are contacted, by email from Sony Music.
Five Sony Stores in Japan Play Intentions Early from 6 November
From 6 November to 30 December, Sony Store Ginza, Sapporo, Nagoya, Osaka and Fukuoka Tenjin let visitors hear the full song on Sony’s WH-1000X noise cancelling headphones. Each store also runs a listening session of about 20 minutes in its theatre room, comparing the track across Sony’s audio equipment. Sessions are booked through each store’s reservation page and start on or after 13 November, depending on the store.
A free sticker of the cover goes to visitors who try the song, add the store’s LINE account and register for My Sony, limited to one per person per day while stocks last. Posting your impressions on X with #宇多田ヒカル, #Intentions and #ソニーストア, and following the Utada Hikaru STAFF account, enters a draw for 20 handkerchief and sticker sets. Full details are on Sony’s event page, which is in Japanese.
Hikaru Utada’s Career Since the 1998 Single Automatic
Utada’s debut single Automatic/time will tell came out on 9 December 1998 and sold more than two million copies. Their first album, First Love, is still the best-selling album in Japanese history, which makes them a natural starting point for anyone new to J-pop. Gamers know them from Hikari and its English version Simple and Clean, the Kingdom Hearts theme, and the 2022 Netflix drama First Love was built around two of their songs.
Utada came out as non-binary during an Instagram livestream in June 2021, which is why this article refers to them as they.
Their eighth album, BAD MODE, landed on Pitchfork’s list of the best albums of 2022, and that April they played Coachella for the first time on the 88rising stage. In April 2025 they returned to Coachella as a surprise guest of Arca. Later that year they sang JANE DOE with Kenshi Yonezu, the ending theme of the Chainsaw Man: Reze Arc film.
Intentions follows PAPPAPARADISE, the 2026 ending theme for the anime Chibi Maruko-chan, released on 6 May. A limited 7 inch single followed on 24 June with a new version, PAPPAPARADISE feat. Hiroto Kohmoto.
When Intentions Comes Out and Who Painted the Cover
Intentions is released as a digital single on Wednesday 25 November 2026, on streaming and download services.
It is the theme of JR Central’s GOOD DAY EXPRESS campaign for the Tokaido Shinkansen. The first advert, starring Utada and promoting the private Supreme Class cabins, has aired in Japan since 28 August 2026.
YUKIKO NORITAKE, a Japanese illustrator from Aichi Prefecture who has lived in Paris since 2015 and paints in acrylic.
Yes. The 30 and 60 second versions of the advert are on Utada’s official website, and five Sony Stores in Japan play the full song from 6 November 2026.
