Tokiyo

"Tokiyo" (Japanese: 時よ, lit. 'Time') (Japanese pronunciation: [tokiꜜ jo]) is a song by Japanese singer-songwriter and musician Gen Hoshino from his fourth studio album, Yellow Dancer (2015). The song was written and produced by Hoshino as commercial song for the distance learning program U-CAN [ja]. The album's opening track, it is an upbeat pop song centered on synthesizer with a prevalent string arrangement, featuring a more Japanese sound on an album with heavy influences from black music. The song's lyrics references the passing of time, with a forward-facing message on the lack of meaning in life. Written at the start of 2015, Hoshino drew influence from Yellow Magic Orchestra's "Mad Pierrot" (1978) and utilized kigo in the lyrics to represent the four seasons.

"Tokiyo" was received positively by album reviewers, who enjoyed its poppy composition. The song peaked at number 21 on the Billboard Japan Hot 100, with 19 chart weeks, and received a gold certification from the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ) for digital sales. An accompanying music video was directed by Kazuaki Seki [ja] and filmed at Shōnandai Station in Fujisawa, Kanagawa. It features Hoshino dressed as a train conductor, performing choreography alongside a masked female dancer. The song was debuted live during the Yellow Voyage tour promoting Yellow Dancer, with Elevenplay performing the music video's choreography. In the 2017 Continues tour – a tour themed around connecting music history – it was performed after a cover of "Mad Pierrot", representing the theme.