To promote the album, Utada released four singles: "Addicted to You," "Wait & See (Risk)," "For You / Time Limit" and "Can You Keep a Secret?."

She promoted the album by performing two shows in Japan: Bohemian Summer 2000 and a special Unplugged event, both of which resulted in live releases.

[1] First Love, which she co-wrote and produced with her father Teruzane Utada and Akira Miyake, was a commercial success throughout the year, becoming the best-selling album in Japanese music history.

[2] With a string of successful singles, Utada quickly rose to prominence in Japan, where she was ranked fifth on the Tokyo Hot 100's Top 100 Artists of the 20th Century, as voted on by stations and listeners.

[8] During her last summer vacation as a high school student in 1999, Utada flew to Minneapolis and produced "Addicted To You" with Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, the production team that has worked with artists such as TLC and Janet Jackson.

[8] In both the United States and Japan, the producer's influence is often more prominent than that of the artist, but in Minneapolis, Utada said that the production with them was on an equal footing, and that it was a "ball of ideas.

When asked why she was not appearing on Kōhaku Uta Gassen at the time, Utada replied: "Because I want to make an album.

[14][15] According to Ian Martin, writing for AllMusic, the tracks produced by Jerkins, Jam, and Lewis had a "rich production" as opposed to the "cheap, tinny" sound of Japanese pop at the time.

[14] The album's title track is a pop song that features twinkling beats, topped with a 90s-like piano melody and filled with breathy background vocals.

She also said that the word "distance" was a perfect fit, given that she had visited and been involved in the production of the album in a variety of places, from Tokyo to Osaka, Atlantic City, Minneapolis, New York, Miami, London, and Hong Kong.

[7] The song received high marks for its production quality and sound, with praise towards its producers Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis.

Commercially, it reached number one on the Oricon Singles Chart and was certified quadruple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ) for shipments of over 1.6 million.

[22] The album's second single, "Wait & See (Risk)", was released on April 19, 2000, with a physical edition that included a few B-side tracks and remixes.

[30] The song received positive reviews from publications and debuted at number one on the Oricon Singles Chart, earning her final triple platinum certification from the RIAJ.

[38] This footage was taken from the unplugged live performance that aired on MTV Japan on August 12, 2001, in front of an audience of about 120 people at Tennoz Studio.

He praised the record's production and songwriting, writing, "Distance stands as one of Hikaru's most consistent and inventive albums, and comes across as a far more convincing example of R&B by a Japanese artist than their later attempts to crack the U.S.

[41] In his review of this album in Rockin'On Japan, Jun Shikano said, “Hikaru Utada's music is soulful and reflects the heart.

[43][44] The Japanese Society for Rights of Authors, Composers and Publishers (JASRAC Awards) honoured the album's single "Can You Keep a Secret?"

[8] EMI Music later released the album in several Asian countries, including China, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand.

[c] Distance was re-released worldwide on January 23, 2019, via digital and streaming services, with a double vinyl edition re-issued in Japan by Universal Music on March 10, 2022.

The announcement of both album release dates sparked widespread controversy in Japanese and Western media, with claims that the two singers were "rivals" in professional as well as personal circumstances.

[62] Both albums received extensive promotion prior to their release on March 28, but both were extremely successful in terms of first-week sales.