A collection of theme songs, insert songs, and background music from 5 Centimeters per Second
5 Centimeters per Second is an animated film directed by Makoto Shinkai, released in 2007.
It tells the story of Takaki Tōno from his elementary school years to adulthood, centered around his first love from childhood.
Warm, bittersweet, and heartrending, it’s a favorite among many fans who consider 5 Centimeters per Second to be Shinkai’s best work.
And of course, it also features one of Shinkai’s trademarks: excellent music.
Beginning with Masayoshi Yamazaki’s One more time, One more chance, the beautiful tracks are as deeply moving as the story itself.
In this article, we’ll introduce the music related to 5 Centimeters per Second, focusing on the songs that appear in the film.
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Compilation of Theme Songs, Insert Songs, and BGM from 5 Centimeters per Second (1–10)
ClassicJUDY AND MARY
A four-piece rock band that blazed through the 1990s, JUDY AND MARY’s 10th single.
When it was released in October 1996, it was used as the opening theme for the TBS program “Pop-file,” and later became the song for Nissin Foods’ “Vegetable Soup Noodles” commercial.
In the live-action film “5 Centimeters per Second,” set for release in 2025 and depicting the year 1997, it’s featured as a song within the story, appearing in a scene where high schooler Kanae sings it at karaoke.
The lyrics capture a sparkling instant of youth, paired with a fast, exhilarating pop-rock sound.
And YUKI’s high, clear vocals convey the thrill of love and the brilliance of youth straight to the heart.
Give it a listen when you want to rekindle memories of a bittersweet first love.
FeltFumitake Ezaki
It’s a playing technique where felt is placed between the piano hammers and strings to draw out a gentle touch, and the piece softly envelops memories of missed connections and loss.
By narrowing the range to the mid–low register and keeping the reverb short, the sound design tactfully evokes tactile images of raindrops, the night air, and still, snapshot-like scenes of trains.
You can’t help but be drawn into a cinematic world.
It’s a track I want to listen to on days when I’m carrying a quiet ache in my heart.
Please take your time and really sink into it.
Fragment of LettersFumitake Ezaki
This 24-second instrumental delicately crystallizes fragments of unfulfilled feelings.
It appears as the fifth track on the original soundtrack for the live-action film 5 Centimeters per Second, composed by Fumitake Ezaki.
As the title “Letter” suggests, its fragile charm evokes snippets of correspondence and memory.
Built around piano with chamber-like strings and sound design layered in, it employs a minimal touch that leaves breathing room like the trace of a sigh.
A brief piece that sinks into the heart when one reflects on missed connections and distance.
Collection of theme songs, insert songs, and BGM from 5 Centimeters per Second (11–20)
LonerFumitake Ezaki
A short score track placed near the beginning of the soundtrack written specifically for the live-action film.
Though only about 38 seconds long, it delicately renders the nuances of a lonely psyche suggested by its title through subtle timbres.
The combination of piano and fine-grained electronic textures gently brings out the original work’s worldview, centered on themes of distance and time.
It accompanies that poignant feeling of thinking of someone yet being unable to reach them.
First Light of Quiet MoonFumitake Ezaki
This piece is a film score that captures a serene moment where dawn and moonlight intersect, condensed into a 40-second short work.
It is one of the 31 tracks included on the album “5 Centimeters Per Second (2025) Original Sound Track,” released on CD and via digital distribution in October 2025.
As the title suggests, it paints the scene of the “first light of a quiet moon” with delicate piano tones and synth textures, serving to support scene transitions and lingering afterimages in the film.
Vanishing in the RainFumitake Ezaki
A song that delicately depicts rainy scenes and the wavering of the heart.
Centered around the piano, its soundscape conveys the blurring of memories and feelings for things that fade away.
It is placed at key moments in the latter half of the film where the characters’ inner worlds shift, playing a crucial role in supporting the emotional arc of the story.
I think it’s a piece that accompanies quiet nights when you listen to the sound of rain, or moments when you look back on memories with someone special.
To be your number one…LINDBERG
Among LINDBERG’s hit songs, this is a true classic—many fans even declare it their absolute favorite.
It’s the band’s 24th single, released in 1996.
In the anime, it appears in Episode 2, “Cosmonaut.” The song is used in the scene inside the car driven by Kanae’s older sister, who is a classmate of the protagonist Takaki Tōno, and also in the scene at the convenience store that Takaki and Kanae stop by on their way home from school.
The lyrics, which portray the bittersweet resolve of trying to look forward even while heartbroken by an unfulfilled love, align beautifully with the film’s themes.