is the debut single by Japanese duo

Yoasobi Yoasobi is a Japanese pop duo formed in 2019. It consists of musician and record producer Ayase (music producer), Ayase and singer-songwriter Lilas Ikuta, under the moniker Ikura. With the slogan "novel into music", the duo originally released Y ...

from their debut EP, '' The Book'' (2021). Its music video was first uploaded via

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on November 16, 2019, before being officially released on December 15, 2019 by

Sony Music Entertainment Japan , often abbreviated as SMEJ or simply SME, and also known as Sony Music Japan for short (stylized as ''SonyMusic''), is a Japanese music arm for Sony. Founded in 1968 as CBS/Sony, SMEJ is directly owned by Sony, Sony Group Corporation and is ...

. The song was based on Mayo Hoshino's short story, , which was published on the creative writing social media Monogatary.com. The song won Song of the Year at the

MTV Video Music Awards Japan The MTV Video Music Awards Japan (MTV VMAJ for short) are the Japanese version of the MTV Video Music Awards. Like the MTV Video Music Awards in the United States, in this event artists are awarded for their songs and videos through online vo ...

and landed Yoasobi a position as one of the Best 5 New Artists at the 35th Japan Gold Disc Award. The song and story depicts a man who is fascinated by a personification of death, Thanatos, who sent him a message "goodbye" and he tries to stop his girlfriend from

suicide by jumping from height Jumping from a dangerous location, such as from a high window, balcony, or roof, or from a cliff, dam, or bridge, is a common suicide method. The 2023 ICD-10-CM diagnosis code for jumping from a high place is X80*, and this method of suicide ...

. The

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covered version of the song was included on member Ayase's EPs ''Ghost City Tokyo'' (2019), and '' Mikunoyoasobi'' (2021). The English version translated by Konnie Aoki, titled "Into the Night", was released on July 2, 2021, as Yoasobi's first English song.

Reception

An accompanying music video for "Yoru ni Kakeru" was first published on Ayase's YouTube channel on November 16, 2019, and its view count surpassed 10 million in 5 months. Soon after its release, the song topped the popularity charts on

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a List of companies of Sweden, Swedish Music streaming service, audio streaming and media service provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. , it is one of the largest providers of music streaming services ...

and

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, and went

viral The word ''Viral'' means "relating to viruses" (small infectious agents). It may also refer to: Viral behavior, or virality Memetic behavior likened that of a virus, for example: * Viral marketing, the use of existing social networks to spre ...

social media Social media are interactive technologies that facilitate the Content creation, creation, information exchange, sharing and news aggregator, aggregation of Content (media), content (such as ideas, interests, and other forms of expression) amongs ...

such as

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during the

COVID-19 pandemic in Japan The COVID-19 pandemic in Japan has resulted in confirmed cases of COVID-19 and deaths, along with 33,728,878 recoveries. Government of Japan, The Japanese government confirmed the country's first case of the disease on 16 January 2020 in a ...

. "Yoru ni Kakeru" debuted at number 76 on the ''Billboard'' Japan Hot 100 for the issue dated March 30, 2020, and peaked at number one two months later. The song topped the chart for three consecutive weeks, total six weeks. The song finished 2020 as the year's top Japan Hot 100 song, becoming the first single not released on CD to do so. On September 13, 2023, ''

Billboard Japan ''Billboard Japan'' is a sister organization of the U.S.-based music magazine '' Billboard''. It is operated by the Japanese Osaka-based company Hanshin Contents Link (a subsidiary of Hanshin Electric Railway), holding an exclusive licence fr ...

'' reported that the song was the first ever to surpass 1 billion streams in the chart's history. On April 12, 2024,

Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics Statistics (from German language, German: ', "description of a State (polity), state, a country") is the discipline that ...

named the song the most streamed song in the

Reiwa era is the current and 232nd era of the official calendar of Japan. It began on 1 May 2019, the day on which Emperor Akihito's eldest son, Naruhito, Enthronement of the Japanese emperor, ascended the throne as the 126th Emperor of Japan. The da ...

so far (2019–2023) with 859 million streams. On May 28, 2025, "Yoru ni Kakeru" became the first song to exceed 1 billion streams since Oricon began tracking streams. In October 2021, "Yoru ni Kakeru" was certified diamond by the

Recording Industry Association of Japan The is an industry trade group composed of Japanese corporations involved in the music industry. It was founded in 1942 as the Japan Phonogram Record Cultural Association, and adopted its current name in 1969. The RIAJ's activities include pro ...

(RIAJ). It exceeded 500 million on-demand streams in Japan, and went double diamond for one billion streams in April 2025, making it the first ever song to reach these milestones in RIAJ history.

Live performances and usage in media

On May 15, 2020, Yoasobi's member

Ikura Red caviar is a caviar made from the roe of salmonid fishes (various species of salmon and trout), which has an intense reddish hue. It is distinct from black caviar, which is made from the roe of sturgeon.Nichola Fletcher, ''Caviar: A Globa ...

appeared on the

channel ''

The First Take ''The First Take'' (stylized as ''THE F1RST TAKE'') is a Japanese YouTube channel that invites singers to perform a song recorded in one take in a white studio. ''The First Take'' is a trademark of Sony Music Entertainment Japan. Concept The ...

'' to perform the re-arranged version of "Yoru ni Kakeru", as ''The Home Take''. Yoasobi, as a duo with band members, gave the televised debut performance of "Yoru ni Kakeru" at ''

71st NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen The was the 2020 (Reiwa 2) edition of NHK's television special Kōhaku Uta Gassen, held on December 31, 2020, live from NHK Hall (Tokyo, Japan), and broadcast in Japan through NHK General Television and NHK Radio 1, and worldwide through TV Japan ...

'' on December 31, filmed at Bookshelf Theater, Kadokawa Culture Center. It made the duo the first-ever artist to perform at the TV special without any album release. During their debut EP ''The Book'' promotion, they performed the song at ''

CDTV Live! Live! (also known as CDTV) is a Japanese late-night music television program, broadcast on TBS since 1993. The program is shown weekly, and features a Japanese music video hit chart countdown, live performances from musicians and music information. ...

'' on January 18, alongside "

Encore An encore is an additional performance given by performers at the conclusion of a show or concert, usually in response to extended applause from the audience.Lalange Cochrane, in ''Oxford Companion to Music'', Alison Latham, ed., Oxford Universi ...

", and ''

Music Station , stylised in all caps, is a Japanese music television program. Broadcasting live weekly on TV Asahi since October 24, 1986, it currently airs from 9PM-10PM on Fridays. The program is also colloquially known as , , and . The show is currently sy ...

'' on January 22. "Yoru ni Kakeru" was used in several

McDonald's Japan Den Fujita (藤田田, ''Fujita Den'', March 3, 1926 – April 21, 2004) was a Japanese businessman. He was the founder of McDonald's Japan. Background Fujita was born in Osaka, Japan to a Christian mother and father who worked in a foreign ...

's advertisements, such as the 2024

McDouble The McDouble is a hamburger sold by the fast-food restaurant chain McDonald's. It is a variation on the double cheeseburger, consisting of two beef patties with one slice of cheese. The "McDouble" name was introduced in 1964, but the modern McDou ...

commercial, and the 2025 "Tirori Mix" with Ado's "Yoru no Pierrot" and

Hoshimachi Suisei is a Japanese singer and virtual YouTuber. She began posting videos as an independent creator in March 2018. In May 2019, she became affiliated with Hololive Production through their newly created music label, INoNaKa Music, before joining the ...

's "Bibbidida".

Accolades

Track listing

* Digital download and streaming # – 4:21 * Digital download and streaming (English version) # "Into the Night" – 4:22 * Digital download and streaming (''

'' version) # "Yoru ni Kakeru" – From ''the First Take'' – 4:08

Credits and personnel

* Ayase – songwriter, producer *

– vocals * Takeruru – guitar * Mayo Hoshino – based story writer * Takayuki Saitō – vocal

recording A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, re ...

* Masahiko Fukui – mixing * Hidekazu Sakai – mastering * Nina Ai – music video animation, cover artwork design

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

All-time charts

Certifications

Release history

References

External links

''Thanatos no Yūwaku'' on Monogatary

''An Invitation from Thanatos'' on the official website
{{Yoasobi 2019 debut singles 2019 songs Animated music videos Music based on short fiction Billboard Japan Hot 100 number-one singles Song recordings produced by Ayase (music producer) Songs about nights Songs about suicide Songs in Japanese Songs written by Ayase (music producer) Sony Music Entertainment Japan singles Viral videos Vocaloid songs Yoasobi songs