Pop star Hikaru Utada on Monday made her first comments about the recent suicide of her mother, singer Keiko Fuji, saying she was "proud to be the daughter of my mother."

"I am full of gratitude for the fact that I have met her," Utada said on her official website. Fuji, 62, died after falling from a Tokyo condominium building in a suspected suicide Thursday.

Utada said that Fuji had been troubled by a "disease of the mind" for many years.

"I hope that my mother was released from the many years of suffering, but I also feel that her last act was extremely sad, and regrets keep growing," Utada said.

Fuji was "impulsive and fragile like a child, goofy, and more adorable than anyone else," Utada added. "Even though there are many sad memories, when I think of my mother, it is her smiling face that comes to my mind," she said.