Tear-jerking love songs: classic and popular hits from Japanese music

Love PhotosNEW!Ai Otsuka

Ai Otsuka / Love Photograph

Ai Otsuka’s 13th single, released in 2006.

Chosen as the theme song for the film “Heavenly Forest” (Tada, Kimi wo Aishiteru), this piece is a poignant love song that expresses pure feelings for a past lover.

It’s a piano- and string-driven ballad in which the melody leaps in the chorus as if pouring out pent-up emotion, stirring a heart-wrenching sensation.

There’s even an anecdote that the song influenced the film’s title, which speaks to the power of its words.

The feeling of still loving someone after a breakup, and the inability to forget the happy moments locked in memory, is something many of us have experienced at least once.

It’s a song that brings tears with its pure, heartfelt longing for the one you love.

maybeYOASOBI

YOASOBI “Tabun” Official Music Video

Released in 2020, this song portrays the raw emotions of a couple facing a breakup.

It captures the cool composure of saying goodbye without tears, alongside the lingering attachment buried deep inside.

The protagonist’s attempt to tell themselves “it can’t be helped” without finding anyone to blame resonates with aching poignancy.

Set to a mid-tempo melody, the lyrics trace the complex feelings of trying to accept the separation while still wishing they could go back to the past.

Included on the album THE BOOK, it reached No.

15 on the Billboard Japan Hot 100.

It’s a song that gently accompanies those struggling in a relationship or those who have experienced parting with someone dear.

Love WindLila Ikuta

Lila Ikuta “Koikaze” Official Music Video

This song was chosen as the theme for the ABEMA romance reality show “Kyou, Suki ni Narimashita.

New Zealand Edition.” It’s a work by Lila Ikuta, who is also active as the vocalist of the music duo YOASOBI, and it was released in April 2025.

The piece is a love song that portrays a delicate emotional landscape: though timid about love, the narrator is touched by the other person’s earnest feelings and tries to take a step forward.

The fresh sound, like a herald of spring, layered with Lila Ikuta’s clear, transparent vocals, tightens your chest as you listen.

This marks the third time she has provided the theme song for the series.

It’s a masterpiece filled with warmth that gently gives you a push when you’re troubled by love or can’t quite take that next step.

Song of PointillismMrs. GREEN APPLE · Sonoko Inoue

Tenbyouno Uta

A beloved ballad featuring the overwhelmingly popular band Mrs.

GREEN APPLE and vocalist Sonoko Inoue, who is also active as an actress.

It portrays a bittersweet yet beautiful story of two people who fall in love within a limited time.

The rich expressiveness of Motoki Omori’s voice and the crystalline clarity of Sonoko Inoue’s vocals weave a harmony that conveys feelings beyond words.

Included on the single “Ao to Natsu” released in August 2018, the song colored the story as an insert track in the film “Aonatsu: Kimi ni Koi Shita 30-nichi.” Knowing that the intention was to express dialog-free scenes through singing makes the lyrics resonate even more deeply.

It’s a song that gently accompanies that slightly lonely feeling, like the end of summer.

rendezvousShy Taupe

rendezvous

The rock band Shytone, which rose to prominence after a viral hit on social media, released a signature track in April 2023 that sings of a man’s searing emotions after a breakup.

Unable to accept parting from someone he loved deeply, he longs for an impossible reunion; the loneliness of his lover’s traces fading from everyday life is expressed through vocalist So Sasaki’s superb word choices—so moving you might be brought to tears.

The song is also known for surpassing 100 million total streams in November 2023 and is included on the album “Hors d’œuvre.” Why not entrust your heart to its somehow comforting melody that stirs up those bittersweet feelings?

monologueOmoinotake

Omoinotake | Soliloquy [Official Music Video]

Haven’t many of us experienced drifting apart because we couldn’t share our true feelings with someone important? Released in April 2025, this work by Omoinotake—whose roots lie in Black music—is an emotional ballad that sings of that very frustration and sense of loss.

It captures a heart-wrenching realization: words only gain meaning when there’s someone to receive them.

You may find yourself overlaying your own experiences onto the protagonist’s regret—if only I had noticed the hidden truth back then.

This song served as the ending theme for the second cour of season 2 of the TV anime The Apothecary Diaries.

While it gently accompanies the pain of heartbreak, it also leaves a faint glimmer of hope at the end.

for a whileDivorce Legend

Divorce Legend – For a While (Official Music Video)

A ballad that gently nestles up to memories of lost love.

The music unit Divorce Densetsu released it in January 2025.

While lamenting a past that can never return, the song portrays the aching sway of trying to forget someone dear.

Vocalist Matsuda’s sweet, mellow voice rides atop a nostalgic sound reminiscent of ’80s New Music, soaking into the heart.

A healing track that wraps you in sentimental emotion.