🎌 A nine-year-old song just broke the American wall. Kenshi Yonezu's "Peace Sign"—the My Hero Academia Season 2 opening theme, originally released in June 2017— has been certified Gold by the RIAA in May 2026. This is Yonezu's third RIAA certification, making him the only artist in history to earn three certifications for Japanese-language songs. Here's why this milestone matters, and how it intersects with My Hero Academia's 10th anniversary and Yonezu's 2025 world tour that drew 440,000 fans.

"Peace Sign" Finally Crosses 500,000 Units

On May 12, 2026, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) officially announced that Kenshi Yonezu's "Peace Sign" had been certified Gold. RIAA Gold certification recognizes tracks that have moved 500,000 units or more in the United States (where one unit equals one physical sale, one digital download, or 150 streams).

"Peace Sign" was released on June 21, 2017, as Yonezu's seventh single, and was written as the opening theme for the second season of the My Hero Academia anime. It played during episodes 14 through 26, scoring the U.A. High School Sports Festival arc—one of the series' most iconic stretches, where Deku and his classmates first showcased their Quirks on a national stage. The single's jacket illustration was drawn by Yonezu himself, inspired by My Hero Academia.

The music video has surpassed 330 million views, and nearly nine years after release, it's still picking up listeners worldwide—enough to finally cross the 500,000-unit threshold in the U.S. alone.

Three RIAA Certifications: A Category of One

With this Gold, Yonezu becomes the only artist in history to receive three RIAA certifications for Japanese-language recordings, breaking his own previous record.

Here's the timeline:

Track Anime Certification Date
KICK BACK Chainsaw Man OP Gold August 2023
KICK BACK Chainsaw Man OP Platinum (1M units) September 2025
Peace Sign My Hero Academia S2 OP Gold May 2026

When "KICK BACK" went Gold in 2023, it was the first Japanese-language song ever to be certified by the RIAA. The Platinum certification in 2025—again, a first for any Japanese-language track. Now, with "Peace Sign," Yonezu has rewritten his own record.

For context, here are the other Japanese-language RIAA-certified tracks to date:

  • Creepy Nuts (2 certifications): "Bling-Bang-Bang-Born" (Gold, Feb 2025), "Otonoke" (Gold, Feb 2026)
  • Fujii Kaze (1 certification): "Shinunoga E-Wa" (Gold, June 2024)
  • King Gnu (1 certification): "SPECIALZ" (Gold, April 2026)

Put side-by-side, Japanese-language RIAA certifications are still rare enough to count on one hand—and Yonezu alone holds three of them.

A Symbolic Win for My Hero Academia's 10th Anniversary

The timing of this certification is almost cinematic: 2026 marks the 10th anniversary of the My Hero Academia anime adaptation.

The series first aired in April 2016 and has since become one of the defining shōnen franchises of the past decade. The original manga (by Kōhei Horikoshi) concluded its run in 2024, but the anime's final story arcs are scheduled to begin airing within 2026. Far from winding down, the franchise is closing out its run on a high note globally.

In a video comment marking the certification, Yonezu said:

"It's a fortunate thing as a musician that so many people have enjoyed listening to this song, and I think it's entirely because of the wonderful work that is My Hero Academia."

"Peace Sign" originally peaked at #2 on the Oricon weekly singles chart in Japan. Streaming wasn't yet the dominant format domestically when the song dropped, which makes its current global trajectory—reaching Gold nine years later, primarily through streaming—all the more striking.

The JUNK World Tour That Reawakened the Song

Another major factor behind "Peace Sign's" U.S. resurgence is Yonezu's 2025 world tour, "Kenshi Yonezu 2025 TOUR / JUNK."

The domestic leg covered 8 Japanese cities across 16 performances, drawing 350,000 fans. The international leg—"KENSHI YONEZU 2025 WORLD TOUR / JUNK"—took him to Shanghai, Taipei, Seoul, London, Paris, New York, and Los Angeles. All 10 overseas shows sold out, drawing 90,000 fans abroad. Combined, the tour reached roughly 440,000 attendees.

The New York date was held at the legendary Radio City Music Hall; the Los Angeles date at the YouTube Theater. At each stop, when "Peace Sign" started, audiences erupted—and overseas crowds sang the Japanese chorus in unison.

At the LA finale, Yonezu told the audience: "I sing in Japanese, and maybe you don't understand the words—but the fact that you still welcome me so warmly, I'm truly moved." The momentum from that tour kept the catalog spinning in U.S. streaming long after the lights went down, and that compounding play count appears to be what finally pushed "Peace Sign" over the line.

What This Says About the Global Music Map

Yonezu's third certification reflects something larger: anime opening themes are quietly becoming their own category in the American market.

For decades, the path for Japanese music to reach U.S. listeners was narrow—sing in English, or sign with a Western label. That changed in the 2020s. Platforms like Crunchyroll, Netflix, YouTube, and Spotify began distributing anime and its soundtracks simultaneously worldwide, and Japanese-language songs started accumulating American streams natively, without translation.

"Peace Sign" is a 2017 release. When it dropped, streaming wasn't even counted toward RIAA certifications in the same way it is now. The fact that the song eventually crossed the threshold in 2026 is direct evidence that anime-driven discovery has kept pulling in new listeners year after year.

Look at the recent RIAA-certified Japanese-language tracks: "KICK BACK" (Chainsaw Man), "SPECIALZ" (Jujutsu Kaisen), "Otonoke" (Dan Da Dan), "Bling-Bang-Bang-Born" (Mashle: Magic and Muscles). Every single one is tied to an anime. The pipeline is unmistakable.

Closing Thoughts

The Gold certification for "Peace Sign" isn't just a footnote about a nine-year-old song selling well. It sits at the intersection of three forces: My Hero Academia's 10th anniversary, the 440,000-fan world tour that brought Yonezu's catalog to U.S. audiences live, and the structural shift that lets Japanese-language anime tracks compete in American streaming on equal terms.

As Yonezu himself acknowledged, none of it would have happened without the original work—the manga, the anime, the global fandom that has carried Deku's story across borders for a decade.

So we'd love to hear from you: How popular are My Hero Academia and Kenshi Yonezu in your country? What memories does "Peace Sign" bring back for you? Drop a comment below—we want to know.

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