Breakup songs that were hits in the 2000s
Breakups with a beloved partner, unrequited love that never comes true…
Heartbreak is something many people experience at least once in their lives.
Precisely because it’s so universal, countless artists have sung about heartbreak over the years.
In this article, we introduce heartbreak songs that were hits in the 2000s.
For those who spent their youth in that era, some of these songs may have comforted your broken hearts back then.
And for anyone who’s recently gone through a breakup or can’t forget someone, these tracks are sure to resonate.
Find the one song that helps heal your wounds.
- Heart-wrenching Japanese hit songs from the 2000s. Songs that make you cry.
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- Breakup songs popular among women in their 20s. Tear-jerking love songs.
- Love songs that were hits in the 2000s. Classic and popular Japanese songs.
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- [Female Heartbreak Song] A soul-stirring song dedicated to you, who loved with all your heart.
- Heisei-era heartbreak songs: A roundup of classic tracks from the ’90s to the 2010s
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- Breakup songs sung by male artists that I’d recommend to Gen Z
- Popular Heartbreak Song Rankings [2026]
- [Unrequited Love] Heart-wrenching Love Songs | A Roundup of Tear-Inducing Crush and Breakup Tracks
- Masterpieces of bittersweet breakup songs. Recommended popular tracks.
Breakup songs that were hits in the 2000s (21–30)
When cherry-blossom hues danceNakajima Mika
This is the 14th single by Mika Nakashima, a singer who has also been active as an actress and voice actress, and who has enjoyed popularity as a post-2000 diva thanks to her distinctive yet translucent singing voice.
The wistful piano tones and delicate melody not only evoke vivid scenes but also stir a sense of nostalgia.
The lyrics, which link the changing seasons with shifts in a couple’s circumstances and feelings, are likely to resonate with many listeners who see their own experiences reflected in them.
It’s a simple yet richly layered ballad whose contrast between what remains unchanged and what evolves creates a tender poignancy.
Song of the SunKaoru Amane
A girl who had always lived all alone but, after meeting him, felt happiness in the everyday for the first time.
And yet, she also knows that this happiness won’t last forever.
It’s a song about a brief love, like a summer whose end you can already see.
Still, it’s a single-hearted song that promises never to forget the season when they met and were together.
many timesAoyama Teruma
“My feelings for you haven’t changed—I still love you.
But I really have to move forward.” It’s a song about a girl in that place.
She kept picturing a future with the person she loves, only to realize it wouldn’t come true, and she ended up crying over and over.
Recommended for those who are torn between wishing they could go back to that day and wanting to take a step forward.
FlowerORANGE RANGE
A five-piece rock band, ORANGE RANGE, known for their wide musical range from pop to loud and their distinctive triple-vocal lineup that electrifies live audiences, released this as their eighth single.
Chosen as the theme song for the film “Be with You,” it was created under the catchphrase “the tear-jerking RANGE,” marking a clear departure from their previous style.
The joy of meeting someone you can truly cherish, and the bittersweet awareness that it will someday end, evoke the image of flowers—just as the title suggests.
It’s an emotional breakup song that captures the fragility and preciousness of love.
sympathetic tearsHitoto Yo
The debut single by singer-songwriter Yo Hitoto, who has a Taiwanese father and a Japanese mother and continued making music in an a cappella club while attending Keio University.
Released in October 2002, the song reached No.
4 on the Oricon charts without a major tie-in and became a long-running hit, staying on the chart for 70 weeks.
The lyrics, which depict how a friend’s tears set off a chain reaction of emotions, are said to have been inspired by a heartbreak she experienced during her university years.
The striking chorus was crafted so that it can be sung universally using only vowels, creating a unique world where an Oriental, R&B-tinged arrangement and her resilient, powerful vocals blend exquisitely.
In 2003, the song earned her the Japan Record Award for Best New Artist and her first appearance on the NHK Kohaku Uta Gassen, making it the track that defined her career as an artist.
sparklingaiko
When it comes to heartbreak, it’s got to be Aiko, right? This song is about a girl who believes that the person she loves will come back someday and waits for him.
She keeps piling up things she wants to tell him, even though he’s not by her side now.
She spends her nights alone, thinking of him.
It’s a cheer-up song for a girl who’s just gone through a breakup.
swallowtail butterflyPorno Graffitti
Most people probably become greedy when they fall in love.
Even if you thought you were fine with unrequited love at first, the closer you grow and the more your distance shrinks, the more you find yourself wanting to make that person yours.
It’s a bittersweet yet pop song about wishing the person you like would like you back, only for that wish not to come true.