Why (Gen Hoshino song)

"Why"
"Why"
	Double A-side cover
Single by Gen Hoshino
Language	Japanese
A-side	"Life" (double A-side)
B-side	"Odd Couple"; "Beyond the Sequence";
Released	December 27, 2023
Genre	J-pop; rock; anime song;
Length	4:10
Label	Speedstar
Songwriter(s)	Gen Hoshino
Producer(s)	Gen Hoshino
Gen Hoshino singles chronology
Music video
	"Why" (Official Video) on YouTube

"Why" (Japanese: 光の跡, Hepburn: Hikari no Ato, lit. "Traces of Light") (Japanese pronunciation: [çi̥kaɾiꜜ no aꜜto]) is a song by Japanese singer-songwriter and musician Gen Hoshino. It was released through Speedstar Records on December 27, 2023, as a double A-sided single with "Life", theme to the 2022 Asian Games and 2023 World Athletics Championships on Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS). The song was written and produced by Hoshino for the anime film Spy × Family Code: White (2023), following the song "Comedy" (2022) which he wrote for the film's preceding TV-series. It is a mid-tempo Japanese rock and pop ballad with a nostalgic-like sound that lyrically questions why people make memories despite life only being temporary.

Hoshino traveled to Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture, to find inspiration for the song. Upon returning home, Hoshino fell into a depressed state where he was unable to write the song's lyrics. He decided to attempt to write about his current worries and struggles, which he believed began to match with the plot of Spy × Family. Hoshino wanted "Why" to follow the lyrical content on "Comedy", but decided to go backwards for the sound and sought inspiration from 1980s rhythm and blues and 90s hip-hop.

"Why" was surprise revealed as the ending theme to Spy × Family Code: White on the day of the film's premiere. Upon release, it reached number three on the Billboard Japan Hot 100, and the double A-side single peaked at number two on Oricon's physical singles chart and Billboard's Top Singles Sales ranking. "Why" was successful in airplay, taking first place on Plantech's Japanese radio chart. A music video to the song, directed by Kyōtarō Hayashi [ja], was released on January 24, 2024, and intersects various scenes with Hoshino singing.