Yoru ni Kakeru

"Yoru ni Kakeru" (夜に駆ける) is the debut single by Japanese duo Yoasobi from their debut EP, The Book (2021). It was released on December 15, 2019, by Sony Music Entertainment Japan. The song was based on Thanatos no Yūwaku (lit. "An Invitation from Thanatos"), a short story by Mayo Hoshino, which was published on the creative writing social media Monogatary.com, and won the Sony Music Award, and the Grand Prize from Monocon 2019.

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. The Hatsune Miku 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 and Line Music, as well as went viral on social media such as TikTok during COVID-19 pandemic in Japan began.

"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. The song was certified diamond by the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ), exceeding 500 million on-demand streams in Japan, on October 25, 2021, making it the first ever song to do so in RIAJ history. On September 13, 2023, Billboard Japan reported that "Yoru ni Kakeru" became the first ever song to surpass 1 billion streams in the chart history. On April 12, 2024, Oricon named the song the most streamed song in Reiwa era so far (2019–2023) with 859 million streams.

Live performances and usage in media
On May 15, 2020, Yoasobi's member Ikura appeared on the YouTube channel The First Take 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 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! on January 18, alongside "Encore", and Music Station on January 22. In March 2024, "Yoru ni Kakeru" was used in a McDonald's Japan's McDouble advertisement.

Track listing

 * Digital download and streaming
 * 1) "Yoru ni Kakeru" (夜に駆ける) – 4:21


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


 * Digital download and streaming (The First Take version)
 * 1) "Yoru ni Kakeru" – From the First Take – 4:08

Credits and personnel

 * Ayase – songwriter, producer
 * Ikura – vocals
 * Takeruru – guitar
 * Mayo Hoshino – based story writer
 * Takayuki Saitō – vocal recording
 * Masahiko Fukui – mixing
 * Hidekazu Sakai – mastering
 * Nina Ai – music video animation, cover artwork design