Mutual love, unrequited love, familial love... classic songs that sing about affection

homeKiyama Yusaku

Yusaku Kiyama - Home

A song of love from a father to his child.

Yusaku Kiyama’s gentle, embracing voice blends with a heartwarming melody to vividly portray the bond between parent and child.

Through its calm tone, it conveys a parent’s feelings as they stay close to their child’s growth and the importance of cherishing the small joys of everyday life.

Released in February 2008, it was used as the ending theme for Nippon TV’s “Uta-Suta!!” and Yomiuri TV’s “Joho Live Miyane-ya,” and later that year Kiyama performed it at the NHK Kohaku Uta Gassen.

Beloved at important life moments such as graduations and weddings, this song is a perfect choice when you want to express gratitude to someone special or deepen your family bonds.

Love MemoryMatsuzaki Shigeru

Love Memory

This is a gem of a love ballad sung by Shigeru Matsuzaki.

The lyrics, celebrating deep affection and the joy of life, overflow with a pure vow of eternal love.

Released in August 1977, it became a major talking point as the theme song for Glico Almond Chocolate, starring Tomokazu Miura and Momoe Yamaguchi in the commercial.

That same year, Matsuzaki made his first appearance on NHK’s Kōhaku Uta Gassen, and the following year the song was selected as the entrance march for the 50th National High School Baseball Invitational Tournament.

It’s a piece you’ll want to listen to while reflecting on those irreplaceable memories of love that everyone experiences at least once.

Sentimental KissShio Reira

Reira Shio / Sentimental Kiss Acoustic ver. (full) [Official Music Video]

A gentle ballad by Reira Shio that delivers bittersweet feelings on a warm acoustic sound.

The lyrics delicately portray the distance between lovers after a breakup and the emotions wavering between heart and body, resonating deeply.

Her voice weaves memories of a feverish love and a faint lingering warmth with novel-like beauty, tenderly embracing the kind of heartache everyone has felt at least once.

Released in March 2022, the song was also used as background music for ABEMA’s dating show “He and the Wolf-chan Won’t Deceive.” It’s a track that will stay by your side on nights when you want to bask in memories of someone special, or when you need someone to hear the feelings you can’t hold inside.

An unfinished love song I’ve been working on foreverHata Motohiro

Motohiro Hata “An Always-Unfinished Love Song” Music Video

Written specifically as the theme song for the film “A Love Letter on Our 35th Year,” this gem of a ballad gently and warmly portrays a love that deepens with the passage of time.

Motohiro Hata’s clear, luminous vocals resonate as if tenderly enveloping feelings for a cherished person.

The track began streaming in February 2025, and a CD single was released in March ahead of the film’s premiere.

The movie depicts a husband who, upon retiring, struggles to write a love letter to his wife; accompanying the protagonist’s emotions, Hata carefully weaves his words like a letter.

It’s a song we recommend to anyone who, in the course of days shared with someone precious, has rediscovered the profound significance of their presence.

aloeFunatsu Mahiro

Masato Funatsu “Aloe” Official Music Video – Ending Theme Song for the drama ‘By the Irori at Ms. Alice’s House’

This is a song by Masato Funatsu, woven with delicate words and melody, slated for release in January 2025.

It tenderly sings of the frustrating emotions born from a relationship that’s more than friends but not quite lovers—hearts so close, yet unable to draw nearer—wrapped in a gentle vocal delivery.

Also selected as the ending theme for the drama “Alice-san’s Irori Hearth,” the track harmonizes beautifully with the show’s warm portrayal of human relationships.

Love takes many forms, and this song resonates with listeners who find their hearts wavering in ambiguous relationships, offering comfort and empathy to many.