夜よ更ふけ

よ

ふ

け

Common wordJLPTN1Freq.FrequencyTop 50,000

Meanings

1

noun

late at night; small hours of the morning

Refers to the deep, quiet hours of the night, typically after midnight. Often used in literary or descriptive contexts.

夜よ更ふけに一人ひとりで散さん歩ぽするのが好すきだ。
I like taking a walk alone late at night.
夜よ更ふけまで仕し事ごとをしてい

た

。

I was working until the small hours of the morning.

Written forms

夜よ更ふけUsage67%
Standard kanji spelling; the most common written form.
夜よふけUsage31%
Mixed kana-kanji spelling, sometimes used for readability.
よふけUsage2%
夜よ深ふけ
Rare variant using 深 instead of 更.

Kanji

夜night, evening
更grow late, night watch, sit up late
深deep, heighten, intensify

Similar words

深しん夜や
深夜 is a more formal or technical term for late night (often used in schedules or news), while 夜更け has a more poetic, descriptive feel.
夜よ中なか
夜中 refers to the middle of the night in a general sense, while 夜更け emphasizes the deep, late hours when most people are asleep.

Etymology

Compound of 夜 (yo, 'night') and 更け (fuke, the continuative form of 更ける fukeru, 'to grow late'). The kanji 更 carries the meaning of 'growing late' or 'deepening'.