[2025] A classic song themed around summer festivals. A song of summer memories.

Summer memories scented by the windAAA

AAA / “Summer Memories Fragrant on the Breeze” Music Video

By being tied to a major event like a summer festival, we can sometimes recall not only the scenes from that moment but even the emotions with vivid clarity.

This song by AAA portrays the act of looking back on those scenes and feelings associated with a past summer festival, as well as the passage of time and changes since then.

Centered around the gentle tones of the piano, the sound evokes a quiet reflection on memories and a sense of warmth in the heart.

The summer festival is depicted as the catalyst for love, and you can feel the positive emotions of wanting to cherish that summer festival moving forward.

That was the Fifteen Summer Festival (Suku-Suku Ondo)The Peanuts

That was the Fifteen Summer Festival (Suku-Suku Ondo)

Let me introduce a masterpiece that blends the bustle of summer festivals with a sudden, bittersweet pang of nostalgia.

It’s a single released by The Peanuts in August 1961.

With a rhythm reminiscent of festival music and the twins’ perfectly synchronized, beautiful harmonies layered on top, it has a refined charm that sets it apart from a typical festival song.

The lyrics vividly portray scenes from a summer at fifteen—hearts fluttering in twisted headbands and yukata, memories of sweet Nikke candies—awakening in listeners the bygone days of their youth.

The track is included on the album “The Peanuts Sings Yasushi Miyagawa” and the live album “Monument / The Peanuts Last Live!” If you want to feel the excitement of a summer festival, or if you’re in the mood to reminisce on a summer evening, listening to it will surely resonate with your heart.

I hope everyone who loves the atmosphere of summer in Japan will enjoy it!

MATSURI BAYASHIKEYTALK

KEYTALK – 「MATSURI BAYASHI」 MUSIC VIDEO

When you hear “a song about a festival,” fans of Japanese rock might immediately think of this track! The danceable beat and the bass line’s aggressive phrases are exhilarating, and the more you listen, the more your excitement builds.

Festivals usually make people feel happy and thrilled, and this song feels like it captures that very festival buzz in musical form.

If you’re not looking for a bittersweet, romance-themed festival song but want an all-out hype festival anthem, this is the one I recommend!

Evening FireworksBanbanzai

[MV] Evening Fireworks / Banbanzai

Banbanzai is a YouTuber group formed by three members: Miyu, Gishi, and Runa.

As YouTubers, they post videos like eating challenges and pranks on YouTube, while also uploading cover songs—showcasing their strong potential as musicians.

Among their works, “Yoihanabi” is a deeply moving track where the trio’s powerful, emotional vocals poignantly and beautifully sing about the memory of watching fireworks with a loved one.

Yes, the summer festival.angela

Yes, the summer festival.

There’s a song that brilliantly expresses the heat and festive spirit of summer through sound.

Created by angela, this piece features KATSU’s sanshin and powerful Japanese taiko as a backdrop, while atsuko channels summer’s heat with her voice, delivering a track that makes you feel as if you’re right in the middle of a Japanese summer festival.

The lyrics skillfully weave in not only the bustling energy of a festival under the blazing sun, but also phrases that evoke traditional rain-invoking rituals, conjuring a scene where prayers to nature merge with the fervor of the people.

This track is an original new song included on the album “LOVE & CARNIVAL,” released in August 2016, which reached No.

4 on the Oricon charts.

It’s a perfect choice for those seeking live-concert-level intensity and the uniquely moving spirit of a Japanese summer.

End of Summer, Beginning of Lovesukoppu feat. GUMI

[GUMI] End of Summer, Beginning of Love [Original Song with PV]

The masterpiece by Vocaloid producer Scop sparkles like fireworks fleetingly coloring a summer night sky, capturing both a momentary glimmer and a heart-aching poignancy.

Amid the bustle of a festival, you look up in a yukata at the final burst of light—along with feelings of love that end without ever being spoken.

That bittersweet scene is vividly expressed through a melody that is light on its feet yet tinged with melancholy.

First released in July 2012, the song later became available as a commercial single in February 2013.

It has also been included in compilations such as “Seishun Vocalo starring GUMI, Lily” and “EXIT TUNES PRESENTS Vocaloseasons feat.

Hatsune Miku Summer.” It’s the kind of song that gently stays by your side when the summer festival ends and a sudden loneliness sets in, bringing back those faint memories of days gone by.

First Love KamishibaiRaymond Matsuya with Chion Mabuchi

Hatsukoikamishibai (Duet Version)

This is a duet by Raymond Matsuya and Chi­haru Sakai, performing under their real names, Tomo­no Mabuchi.

The song vividly revives the scenes of a summer festival that set hearts aflutter in yukata, and the kamishibai storytelling seen in a shrine grove.

Through their harmonies, you can keenly feel the faint yearning glimpsed through cotton candy and the bittersweet ache for a first love that can’t be redone.

Released in May 2014 as the coupling track to the single “Asayake no Futari,” many may also recognize it from Karaoke DAM.

Mabuchi’s winning the grand prize at a 2013 audition led to the birth of this emotionally rich duet.

When you want to bask in the bittersweet memories of a summer day, this song will gently stay by your side.