Anti-war songs that pierce the heart: Japan’s masterpieces conveying prayers for peace
Music sometimes has the power to move people’s hearts and exert a great influence on society.
Among such works, anti-war songs imbued with wishes for peace have appealed across generations, conveying both the horrors of war and the preciousness of peace to many.
The anti-war songs etched into Japan’s musical history contain profound messages that we who live today must never forget.
In this article, we highlight Japanese anti-war songs—focusing mainly on popular Japanese music—and explain the backgrounds of the tracks and the sentiments embedded in their lyrics.
We invite you to take this opportunity to reflect anew on war and peace.
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Antiwar Songs That Pierce the Heart: Prayers for Peace Conveyed by Japan’s Masterpieces (31–40)
One more milerēzun
The lyrics, which speak of the futility and sorrow of war, are enough to make you cry just by reading them.
It’s a song by Raisin, the folk duo of singer-songwriters Masashi Sada and Masami Yoshida, included on their 1991 album “About Those Days – Season of Raisin.” The content, expressing feelings for a lover who was killed in the war, pierces the heart.
It’s an anti-war song that makes you feel, “We must never let something like this happen again.”
A Distant Christmassadamasashi
It is said to be inspired by the Iraq War.
Every line sinks into the heart, with a depth that startles you.
There’s an anxiety that the happiness before our eyes might one day be shattered, and a fear that such things are happening close by.
It resembles today’s state of the world, and I feel a strong message confronting a real, present-day problem.
Reason for LifeChris Hart
This song, also popular as a choral piece, is “Inochi no Riyū” (The Reason for Life).
It was written and composed by Masashi Sada, and this is the version covered by Chris Hart.
Lately, not only wars but also many tragic incidents that take lives have been happening.
This is an important song that reminds us there is no such thing as a life born without meaning.
A NEW STYLE WARHamada Shogo
A socially conscious rock song that opens Shogo Hamada’s acclaimed album J.BOY, released in September 1986.
Rather than depicting armed conflict between nations, the track portrays invisible threats lurking in terrorism, inequality, and information.
Many listeners may be struck by a worldview that seems to have foretold the present day.
The album featuring this song reached No.
1 on the Oricon charts for the first time in his career and won the Excellence Album Award at the 28th Japan Record Awards.
It’s a track you’ll want to listen to when you want to reflect deeply on how society works and what true freedom really means.
Hill Where You Can See DugongsCocco
This is a song that was sung for two parent-and-child dugongs that appeared in Oura Bay, Nago City, Okinawa, and it drew great attention at the time.
It expresses a wish for a clean environment in Okinawa—Cocco’s beloved homeland—where dugongs can continue to live, and for peace in the future.
[Anti-war songs that pierce the heart] Prayers for peace conveyed by Japan’s masterpieces (41–50)
From the hill with a cradleMr.Children
This is a song by Mr.Children titled “From the Cradle Hill.” It wasn’t released as a single, but among fans it’s considered a hidden gem.
It sings about the love between a man and a woman torn apart by war.
It’s a song that makes you feel that in war there’s only loss and nothing to be gained.
A world without tomorrowRC sakuseshon
It portrays the feeling that, although various conflicts are occurring around the world, if they aren’t happening nearby, they somehow feel like someone else’s problem.
It also conveys a sense of urgency that war may be approaching before we even realize it.