One aspect of the present invention is a light-emitting element having a layer containing an aromatic hydrocarbon and a metal oxide between a pair of electrodes. There is no particular limitation on the kind of aromatic hydrocarbon; however, an aromatic hydrocarbon having a hole mobility of 1 x 10-6 cm2 / Vs or more is preferable. Examples of such aromatic hydrocarbons include 2-tert-butyl-9,10-bis(2-naphthyl)anthracene, anthracene, 9,10-diphenylanthracene, tetracene, rubrene, perylene, 2,5,8,11-tetra(tert-butyl)perylene and so on. As the metal oxide, a metal oxide exhibiting electron-accepting properties for aromatic hydrocarbons is preferable. As such metal oxides, for example, molybdenum oxide, vanadium oxide, ruthenium oxide, rhenium oxide and the like are given.