When Hikaru was little, she did not want to become a singer. She saw how busy her parents' lives were, and did not want that for herself. When she was 10 years-old, her parents asked her if she wanted to write songs. She did not want to, but tried doing it. She wrote a song called "I'll Be Stronger". During this time, Hikaru went to school in New York. Her classmates were not able to say her name right (Hee-ka-roo) so they shortened it to 'Hikki'. 'Hikki' became Hikaru's nickname. Her fans in Japan call her that. The name is not promoted very much in the United States because it sounds too much like 'hickey'.