Ayase | ||||||||||
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![]() Ayase in 2024 | ||||||||||
Born | Ube, Yamaguchi, Japan | April 4, 1994|||||||||
Other names | Keiichirō | |||||||||
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Musical career | ||||||||||
Origin | Japan | |||||||||
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Years active | 2012–present | |||||||||
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Formerly of | Davinci | |||||||||
YouTube information | ||||||||||
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Years active | 2018–present | |||||||||
Genre | Music | |||||||||
Subscribers | 7.25 million [4] | |||||||||
Views | 5.87 billion [4] | |||||||||
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Last updated: August 3, 2025 |
Ayase (born April 4, 1994) is a Japanese musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as a Vocaloid producer and songwriter for Yoasobi, a musical duo composed of himself and vocalist Ikura. He was also a vocalist of the rock band Davinci until its disbandment in 2020.
Ayase was born on April 4, 1994, in Ube, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan. [5] At the age around 3 or 4, he received his first piano lessons by his grandmother who was a music teacher. When he started elementary school, he received professional piano lessons at a music school. In his later grade school years, he also learned how to play acoustic guitar after he was given an acoustic guitar as a Christmas present. The first song he learned to play on guitar was originally written by Ringo Sheena. His early musical influences were Exile, Sukima Switch, Kobukuro, [6] Radwimps, [7] Aiko, [8] Post Malone, [9] Yumi Matsutoya, Mariya Takeuchi, and Toshinobu Kubota. [10] He also stated that he was influenced by several rock and metal bands, such as Maximum the Hormone, Coldrain, Crossfaith, SiM, Slipknot and Bring Me the Horizon before he found the band. [11] His music genres influences include '80s and '90s music, K-pop, [12] J-pop, and folk music, [10]
In 2012, at age of 16, Ayase formed the rock band Davinci with classmates from high school, performing under the name Keiichirō, and being in charge of vocalist and leader of the band. Due to his band activity, he later dropped out of high school, and, in 2016, the band relocated to Tokyo. [8] In October 2018, the band went hiatus due to Ayase's medical treatment of peptic ulcer disease. [13] Eventually, the band announced the disbandment two years later in July 2020. [14]
During the band's hiatus, Ayase started making music using the Vocaloid software voicebank Hatsune Miku during his stay at the hospital. He released his first song "Sentensei Assault Girl" via video-sharing website YouTube and Niconico on December 24, 2018. [15] Since then, he continued self-published several songs, including "Last Resort" in April 2019, which gained his first popularity. [16] Eventually, Ayase released his debut extended play Ghost City Tokyo, recorded by Hatsune Miku vocals, on November 17, 2019. [17] [18]
Around the time "Last Resort" popularized, [19] in mid 2019, Ayase received an offer from Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Yohei Yashiro and Shuya Yamamoto, to collaborate on a project to produce songs inspired by short stories published on creative writing social media Monogatary.com . [20] He found Ikura on Instagram, where she covered the song, [21] and later checked her YouTube channel, and contacted her directly to persuade her to form the duo, called Yoasobi. [12] Their debut single "Yoru ni Kakeru", which was released in December 2019, went viral and became a musical success in Japan which resulted in Yoasobi increasing popularity in Japanese music scene. [22] [23]
In 2020, Ayase wrote and produced the song "Saikai", performed by singers Lisa and Uru, for Sony noise-cancelling headphones 1000X. [24] His second EP Mikunoyoasobi was released exclusively on CD to Tower Records Japan on January 6, 2021. The EP contains cover versions by Hatsune Miku of seven tracks from Yoasobi's debut EP The Book by Hatsune Miku, including "Yoru ni Kakeru", which previously appeared on Ghost City Tokyo. [25] Ayase's self-cover of two tracks from Ghost City Tokyo, "Yoru Naderu Menō" and "Yūrei Tōkyō", were released to streaming platforms on September 8, 2021, after published on YouTube and Niconico during 2019 to 2020. [26] He collaborated with Creepy Nuts and Lilas Ikuta on the single "Baka Majime", which featured on All Night Nippon 55th-anniversary stage drama Ano Yoru o Oboe Teru. [27]
Ayase released his first non-Vocaloid single "Hōwa", alongside self-cover of "Cinema", on September 30, 2022. [28] In 2023, he recorded two anime opening themes: "Shock!" for Buddy Daddies , [29] and "Hiten" with R-Shitei for the 2023 edition of Rurouni Kenshin . [30] Ayase and Vocaloid producers Syudou, Surii, and Tsumiki collaborated for the EP Ryūgūjō, as Dreamers; Ayase wrote the song "Kira Kira Kira". It was released exclusively at Creators Market of Hatsune Miku: Magical Mirai 2023 festival in Osaka on August 11. [31] In 2024, Ayase wrote and performed the song "From Now!", which also co-composed and arranged by Yasutaka Nakata, and was released on September 6. [32] It was used for limited event quest and commercial for mobile game Monster Hunter Now . [33] He was in charge of writing and producing the theme song for 2024 medical film Doctor-X: The Movie , titled "Episode X", which was performed by Ado. [34]
Ayase has been dating Nina Ai, who works on some of Yoasobi's cover artworks and music videos, including "Yoru ni Kakeru". [35]
Title | Details | Peak positions | Sales | ||
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JPN [36] | JPN Cmb. [37] | JPN Hot [38] | |||
Ghost City Tokyo | Track listing
| — | — | — | |
Mikunoyoasobi |
| 15 | 24 | 18 |
|
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that region. |
Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
JPN [41] | JPN Cmb. [42] | JPN Hot [43] | ||||
"Suima" (with Kankan) | 2021 | — | — | — | Non-album single | |
"Yoru Naderu Menō" [B] | — | 24 | 25 |
| Ghost City Tokyo | |
"Yūrei Tōkyō" | — | — [C] | Non-album single | |||
"Baka Majime" (with Creepy Nuts and Lilas Ikuta) | 2022 | — | 50 | 38 |
| Ensemble Play |
"Hōwa" | — | — [D] | — [E] | Non-album single | ||
"Cinema" | — | — [F] | — [G] | |||
"Shock!" | 2023 | — | — | — | ||
"Hiten" (with R-Shitei) | 38 | — [H] | 73 | |||
"Kira Kira Kira" [50] (as Dreamers) | — | — | — | Ryūgūjō | ||
"From Now!" | 2024 | — | — [I] | — [J] | Non-album single | |
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that region. |
Title | Year | Vocalist(s) | Album |
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"Sentensei Assault Girl" | 2018 | Hatsune Miku | Non-album songs |
"I'm Not Crying" | 2019 | ||
"Happy Ender" | Ghost City Tokyo | ||
"Yoru Naderu Menō" [B] | Non-album songs | ||
"Last Resort" | Ghost City Tokyo | ||
"Pseudohumans" | V Flower and Hatsune Miku | Non-album songs | |
"Killer Queen" | Hatsune Miku | Ghost City Tokyo | |
"Fiction Blue" | |||
"Cynical Night Plan" | 2020 | Non-album songs | |
"Yokubari" | |||
"Bitter Sweet Samba" (Ayase remix) [53] | 2021 | — |
Title | Year | Album |
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"Tachiiri Kinshi" (with Ado) | 2022 | Mafumafu Tribute Album – Tensei |
"Hero" (featuring Hatsune Miku) | 2023 | Magical Mirai 2023: Official Album |
All song credits are adapted from the Japanese Society for Rights of Authors, Composers and Publishers's database unless stated otherwise. [54]
Song | Year | Artist | Album | Lyricist | Composer | Arranger |
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"Evergreen" [55] | 2019 | Ryushen | Non-album single | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() |
"Inochi ga Naite Itanda" | 2020 | The Binary | Jiu | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() |
"Wanderer" | Satomi | Non-album single | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | |
"Saikai" | Lisa, Uru | Non-album single | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | |
"Sen'ya Ichiya" | Hey! Say! JUMP | Fab!: Music Speaks | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | |
"Shout!" | TTJ | Non-album single | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | |
"Snow Dance" | 2021 | Genin wa Jibun ni Aru | Multiverse | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() |
"Never Ending" | Shoose | Velvet Night | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | |
"Shinkai" | Nana Mori | Non-album single | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | |
"Yuke" | Lisa | Lander | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | |
"Alter Garden" | Regret (Arisa Kōri) | Caligula 2 Original Soundtrack | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | |
"Cinema" | Vivid Bad Squad | "Rad Dogs" / "Cinema" | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | |
"Introduction" | 2022 | Poppin'Party | "Poppin'Dream" | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() |
"Kaimaku Zenoparade" | Varis | Kakusei Historia | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | |
"Wonder Light" | Idolish7 | Non-album single | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | |
"Michizure" | 2023 | Hoshimachi Suisei | Specter | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() |
"Datsu Karitekita Neko Shōkōgun" | Uru | Contrast | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | |
"Michishirube" | Masayuki Suzuki | Soul Navigation | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | |
"Four-Man Cell" | Top 4 (Kiyo, Retort, Ushizawa, Gatchman) | Non-album single | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | |
"Episode X" | 2024 | Ado | Ado's Best Adobum | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() |
Award ceremony | Year | Category | Nominee(s)/work(s) | Result | Ref. |
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Japan Record Awards | 2023 | Best Composition Award | "Idol" | Won | [56] |
JASRAC Awards | 2023 | Silver Prize | "Yoru ni Kakeru" | Won | [57] |
2024 | Gold Prize | "Idol" | Won | [58] | |
2025 | Won | [59] | |||
Music Awards Japan | 2025 | Song of the Year for Creators | Won | [60] |