History-Making J-Pop Phenom Kenshi Yonezu Secures Third RIAA® Certification for Track 'Peace Sign'

LISTEN TO THE SONG HERE

ACHIEVEMENT FOLLOWS THE GOLD AND PLATINUM CERTIFICATIONS FOR “KICK BACK”

NEW YORK, NY (May 12, 2026) – — Japanese singer-songwriter KENSHI YONEZU has reached another historic milestone in the United States, as his 2017 single “Peace Sign” has officially been certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The latest certification marks his third RIAA certification, the most ever achieved by an artist performing in Japanese. With this latest honor, Yonezu becomes the only artist in history to receive three RIAA certifications for Japanese-language recordings, further expanding the global reach of Japanese music in the American market.

“Peace Sign” surpassed 500,000 units in the United States through combined sales and streaming to earn Gold status in May 2026. The achievement arrives during the 10th anniversary of the global hit anime My Hero Academia, for which the song served as the Season 2 opening theme, adding symbolic weight to the certification.

The milestone follows Yonezu's groundbreaking run with “KICK BACK,” the opening theme for CHAINSAW MAN, which became the first Japanese-language song ever certified Gold by the RIAA in 2023 and the first Japanese-language song ever certified Platinum in 2025. With “Peace Sign” now achieving Gold, Yonezu extends his own record, standing alone as the most RIAA-certified Japanese-language artist in history.

At a time when global audiences increasingly embrace non-English music, Yonezu's continued success signals a defining shift: Japanese-language songs are not only crossing borders — they are establishing sustained commercial longevity in the world's largest music market.

Originally released on June 21, 2017, “Peace Sign” quickly became an anthem among anime fans worldwide. Its official music video has since surpassed 330 million views on YouTube, and the track remains a centerpiece of Yonezu's live performances, drawing explosive audience reactions throughout his 2025 world tour spanning Asia, Europe, and North America, which attracted 440,000 attendees. Nearly a decade after its release, the song continues to gain new listeners, underscoring its lasting cultural and streaming impact.

The single artwork, illustrated by Yonezu himself and inspired by My Hero Academia, reflects his multidisciplinary creative identity as both musician and visual artist.

Kenshi Yonezu is one of Japan's most influential contemporary artists. Beginning his career under the alias Hachi in the Vocaloid scene, he emerged as a solo artist in 2012 and has since become a defining voice in modern J-pop and global streaming culture. His 2018 single “Lemon” became one of the most successful Japanese songs of all time, surpassing 970 million YouTube views. Across his catalog, he has achieved 18 music videos exceeding 100 million views, amassed over 8.6 million YouTube subscribers, earned Top 5 global chart placements including Billboard Global rankings, secured a Top 10 placement on the IFPI Global Album Chart, and received recognition in RIAA's “Class of 2023.”

With three RIAA certifications now under his belt, Yonezu continues redefining the global possibilities for Japanese-language music.

ABOUT KENSHI YONEZU
After gaining success with Vocaloid music under the stage name HACHI, Kenshi Yonezu began producing under his real name in 2012. In addition to music, he has attracted attention for his album cover illustrations and video productions. The video for his hit single “Lemon”, the long-running theme song for the TV series Unnatural, is the most-viewed music video in Japan, and topped Billboard Japan's year-end charts for two consecutive years, leaving a mark on music history both in Japan and abroad.

His 2020 album STRAY SHEEP set a record of 1.9 million copies sold with the highest-placing Japanese artist ever to appear on the IFPI year-end global ranking chart. He continued to work tirelessly during the COVID-19 pandemic, including performing as the first Asian in a virtual concert hosted by the online game Fortnite. Collaborated globally with UNIQLO on their UT collection with the storefront collaboration displays in NY and other 8 UNIQLO stores worldwide. He was awarded an AAC Award, listed in Forbes' 100 Asian Digital Stars, and received the Minister of NEWS RELEASE Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology's Art Encouragement Prize for New Artists.

In 2022, he released “M87” as the theme song for the film Shin Ultraman, and “POP SONG” as the theme song for a PlayStation commercial. His single “KICK BACK,” the opening theme for the TV anime CHAINSAW MAN, made Spotify's Global Top 50, and became the first Japanese-language song certified Gold by RIAA®. He was also selected as the first and only Japanese artist to be a part of the “RIAA Class of 2023”, with which the association summarized the artists who had flourished in the year.

In 2023, Yonezu released “Tsuki Wo Miteita - Moongazing” as the theme song for the RPG game Final Fantasy XVI, and “Chikyugi - Spinning Globe” – the theme song Studio Ghibli's animated film The Boy and the Heron (Academy Award Winner for Best Animated Feature, 2024), directed by Hayao Miyazaki.

In August 2024, Yonezu wrote “Garakuta – JUNK”, the theme song of the movie LAST MILE, and released his sixth studio album, LOST CORNER. In September, Yonezu released an exclusive line of graphic tees in collaboration with UNIQLO, as part of their ongoing UT series celebrating pop culture from around the world. After 11 years, Hachi (Kenshi Yonezu) himself created a new illustration for the VOCALOID song “Donut Hole”, and a fully animated music video based on the illustration. Original chocolate was also released from Godiva Japan as the “GODIVA x HACHI Donut Hole Collection” from October as the first time for Godiva worldwide to create a chocolate collection lineup in collaboration with an artist. In November Yonezu released “Azalea”, a song written as the theme song for the global Netflix series Beyond Goodbye. For the first time in 6 years, appeared at Kohaku Uta Gassen.

In 2025, Yonezu released “Plazma”, a theme to the film Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX -Beginning- and also the theme to its anime series Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX. He then released the theme to the anime series Medalist with a collaboration music video between Kenshi Yonezu and the Winter Olympics gold medalist Yuzuru Hanyu. Yonezu kicked off his largest-scaled world tour, KENSHI YONEZU 2025 WORLD TOUR / JUNK after performing domes in Japan, toured Asia, Europe, and the U.S., drew a total of 440,000 people. In September, his global hit “KICK BACK” received Platinum certification from the RIAA, marking the first time a Japanese-language song has achieved the milestone in the U.S. He recently released “IRIS OUT” as the theme song for the theatrical feature CHAINSAW MAN – THE MOVIE: REZE ARC, alongside the ending theme “JANE DOE,” a collaboration with Hikaru Utada. “IRIS OUT” set multiple all-time records, including the highest weekly streaming total and fastest song to reach 100 million streams in Japanese chart history, the highest weekly point total on Billboard JAPAN, and a peak at No. 5 on the Billboard Global 200 chart, the highest placement ever for a Japanese-language song. In October, Yonezu released “1991” as the theme song for the film 5 Centimeters Per Second, and on December 31, he appeared on the 76th NHK Kouhaku Uta Gassen, delivering the first-ever live performance of “IRIS OUT.”

Kenshi Yonezu has just recently announced his new tour, KENSHI YONEZU 2026 TOUR / GHOST— a 6-city, 14-show arena headliner across Japan. The tour will kick off in Nagano on November 6, 2026, and will travel through Osaka, Aichi, Fukuoka, Miyagi, and Kanagawa, concluding on December 17.

As for Yonezu's music videos, “Lemon” has surpassed 970 million views, continuing to break the records of Japanese artists.  It is one of the 18 music videos of his songs that garnered him a commanding record of surpassing 100 million views each (“Lemon,” “Eine Kleine,” “LOSER,” “Peace Sign,” “Haiirotoao (+Masaki Suda),” “orion,” “Flamingo,” “Kanden,” “Fireworks,” “Paprika,” “Shunrai,” “Uma to Shika,” “Spirits of the Sea,” “KICK BACK,” “IRIS OUT,” Foorin's “Paprika” and Masaki Suda's “Machigaisagashi,” “Sayonara, Mata Itsuka! – Sayonara”). He has over 8.62 million subscribers on his official YouTube channel.

CONNECT WITH KENSHI YONEZU: WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM | X | TIKTOK | YOUTUBE