As tweeted by U.Blog: http://twitter.com/UBlog/status/5863525985554433

~From http://www.rollingstonejapan.com/?p=5519~
(In Japanese)
ヒッキー、活動休止（号泣）
俺は打ちひしがれていた。だって、だってさ、メーン！ ヒッキーが音楽シーンから離れちゃうんだもん！ もう日本
の音楽なんて興味ないぞ、この野郎。２枚組のゴブラン織りのようなシングル集。ディスク１には04年の「誰かの願
いが叶うころ」をはじめとする13曲、ディスク２には新曲を含む５曲。ヒッキーがJ-POPに残した功績を考えたら無
条件で☆ファイブだろ。Butひとまずお疲れさま♡　早く戻ってきてねー。
Text by 星 ポエム
~In (S***ty) English courtesy of Google's translator~
Hickey, hiatus (crying)
I was crushed. I mean, is because, Maine! Because I'll be away from the music scene Hickey! Japan again
I make music I do not care, (censored). Single tapestry collection such as two-disc set. Disc 1 of 2004 "Request for someone
Time they come true "and other 13 songs, five songs on the disc, including two new songs. Hickey J-POP is no credit left to think about
Five right conditions ☆. But come back soon ♡ Ne moment cheers for good work.
Text by Star Poem

This is her third album consecutively to get their highest ranking I think after Heart Station and Exodus (the latter of which I could use help finding!)...by no means a surprising but still unconventional feat (I think they hand them out even more conservatively than the U.S. Rolling Stone mag; I think its likelier to part the Red Sea @ this point unless ur Kanye West or bruce Springsteen!)

Here's was their (IMO much superior) review for HS a few years back...
ポップ・ミュージックの神髄
06年の『ULTRA BLUE』以来となる最新作『HEART STATION』。「Beautiful World」などの超強力シングル曲が収録され、新曲たちも負けじと色濃く現在の宇多田ヒカルを証明する一枚。クールなトラックと芸術的なコーラス・ワーク。そのクオリティが極められるにつれ、言葉はどんどん自由に人々の心の隙間に入り込む独創性を帯びたのだ。今の彼女が抱えた喪失感と終わらない孤独、そのなかで得た強さと新たなるピュアネスが闘志を貫くポップ・ミュージック。デビュー作に真っ向勝負できる作品は今のところコレ。
Text by 上野三樹
The essence of pop music
The ULTRA BLUE [2006] and since [latest] HEART STATION. "Beautiful World" and super-strong Thing
The level songs, Utada Hikaru piece prove to be outdone were also heavily present a new song. Cool track and artistic
Chorus work. As its quality has to be extremely, the word creativity go into people's minds the gap between the more and more freely
It tinged. End loneliness and her sense of loss now holding, consistent with the strength of a fight but gained a new Pureness among them
Please pop music. Work can not compete head on his debut so far kore.
Text by Ueno Miki

Does anybody know if they reviewed TITO and her first single collection, or even her first four J-pop studio albums (post the text and/or link if u can get 'em please & thank u!)...

http://www.allmusic.com/album/distance-r545743/review

I thought this was interesting to add as a side note in that All Music has only reviewed one of her JP studio LPs and chose 'Distance' but I otherwise like where the writer was coming from with his synapsis!

"Following the staggering success of her debut album under her own name, 1999's First Love, the biggest selling album in Japanese recording history, was preceded by four number one singles. To say that Utada Hikaru's 2001 follow-up, Distance, was hotly anticipated would be a huge understatement. Her debut's R&B-influenced sound evolved with little significant stylistic change, yet Distance stands out from other Japanese pop albums of the period with its rich production providing stark contrast to the cheap, tinny sound that characterized much Japanese pop of the previous decade, with "Wait & See" and "Addicted to You" both featuring the production talents of Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis. Elsewhere, "Can You Keep a Secret?" remains a landmark in Japanese R&B both in terms of the sophistication of its songwriting and in its production, "Drama" shifts slightly from that template by introducing heavy, multilayered guitars and a darker, more rock-influenced sound, and "Kettobase!" mixes Hikaru's usual R&B with more rock guitar and a techno-influenced sequencer pattern. Despite arriving relatively early in her career, 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 her later attempts to crack the U.S. market." by Ian Martin