Hikari

Hikari is a Japanese word meaning light (光) and is used in various contexts beyond its linguistic meaning. It functions as a given name in Japan and appears in popular culture, technology, and transportation, among other areas.

In transportation, Hikari is the name of a Shinkansen service on the Tokaido and Sanyo lines. Introduced in the 1960s, the Hikari service is a high-speed option that stops at major stations between Tokyo and Shin-Osaka and, in later years, extended to other destinations on the Sanyo Shinkansen. Its stopping pattern has varied over time, reflecting changes in service structure and network demand, but it remains one of the best-known high-speed routes in Japan.

In music, Hikari is the title of a 2002 Japanese-language single by Utada Hikaru, released as part of her early-career discography. The song is well known for its association with the video game series Kingdom Hearts, where the Japanese version provided the theme for the first game, and an English-language adaptation, Simple and Clean, was widely published for Western audiences.

In software, HikariCP, often shortened to Hikari, is an open-source high-performance JDBC connection pool for Java. It is widely used in enterprise and web applications for efficient database connectivity and reliability. The project was created by Brett Wooldridge and has become a popular choice for applications requiring fast, lightweight connection management.

In fiction, Hikari is the Japanese name of Dawn, a central character in the Pokémon Diamond and Pearl series, where she is known as a coordinator and trainer. The name Hikari is used in Japanese media and literature to convey themes of light and brightness that align with the character’s development.