A ballad song about unrequited love

The town where you liveShimizu Shota

Shota Shimizu “The Town Where You Live” MV

This is a ballad that paints the feelings of someone who, in unguarded moments, finds themselves searching for traces of a lover who should no longer be there.

It’s a song by singer-songwriter Shota Shimizu, released in October 2010 as his eighth single.

The track is also included on the album COLORS.

You can almost picture the protagonist overlaying the face of the one they can no longer meet onto a lookalike spotted on a station platform or onto familiar cityscapes.

Imagining the city where that person lives and simply wishing to see them—those one-sided feelings are, in a way, the very essence of a lingering “unrequited love” that follows a finished romance.

The melody, like an autumn dusk—lonely yet warm—soaks into the heart.

If there’s someone you can’t forget, listening to this will surely resonate deeply.

A world without youto shiki

A world without you

This is a work by Toshiki, a singer-songwriter from Hyogo Prefecture, singing about overflowing feelings for someone precious who has disappeared from right before your eyes.

Released in August 2022, the song spread on social media after a post sparked buzz as a “heart-wrenchingly divine track,” inspiring over 4,000 fan-made videos.

It depicts the painful realization, only after losing them, that the ordinary days spent with someone you can no longer meet were the true happiness.

Perhaps everyone has experienced the torment of secretly holding on to love—still being in love even after a breakup.

A masterful ballad sung from a male perspective that gently embraces such sentimental feelings.

Please take your time and listen closely to his warm yet heartrending voice.

I only know your profileHanbaato Hanbaato

Humbert Humbert – Yokogao Shika Shiranai [Official Music Video]

Set to an acoustic timbre, this unadorned, steadily woven lyric seeps into the heart—a one-sided love song.

Just watching the person you like from afar, knowing only a small part of them… That frustrating, bittersweet sense of distance is delicately portrayed through warm male–female twin vocals.

There are no grand words, yet the protagonist’s awkward feelings come through, and many listeners may find themselves overlaying their own experiences onto it.

This track is included on the folk duo Humbert Humbert’s 15th anniversary album “FOLK,” released in June 2016.

If you listen while harboring a love you can’t bring yourself to declare, you may feel the gentle melody and voices quietly stay by your side.

You said the moon is beautiful.berry meet

berry meet / The moon is beautiful [Music Video]

This song paints a picture of a winter night sky and the bittersweetness of love.

Its delicate vocals and acoustic tones settle quietly in the heart like falling snow.

The melody gently embraces the anxiety, hopes, and unspoken frustrations of someone in love, leaving a strong impression.

Released as berry meet’s single in November 2023, it resonated with many listeners.

Listening during the winter season—especially while gazing up at the night sky—deepens the feelings of someone in love.

It’s a perfect track for those with unrequited feelings or those hesitating to confess.

two peopleaiko

aiko - “Futari” music video

I tell myself it’s a good thing I realized how they felt before I fell in love, and I accept the end of the romance.

This song by aiko captures that painful bravado.

Despite its up-tempo sound, it sings of the bittersweet moment when you keep getting your hopes up over the other person’s smallest gestures, only to notice their gaze is fixed on someone else.

Released in March 2008, the song reached No.

3 on the Oricon weekly chart and was later used in a Hoyu commercial.

It’s also included on the album “Himitsu.” On nights when you put on a brave face even though you’re really sad, doesn’t listening to this song make you feel like someone’s right beside you saying, “I know exactly how you feel”?

youHY

you

A song by HY that paints a picture of aching, unrequited love.

Entrusting feelings for a beloved person to a song, yet being too awkward to express them honestly—that vulnerability is deeply moving.

Featured on the album “Street Story,” this track has been cherished by fans for years, and its raw lyrics, combined with Izumi Nakasone’s powerful yet delicate vocals, resonate with many listeners.

It’s perfect for anyone caught in the swirl of one-sided love, where joy and pain intertwine.

Highly recommended for those feeling heartache or looking for the courage to confess their feelings.

In loveHY

HY - “In Love” (Theme song for the film ‘366 Days’) Music Video

Even if you weren’t the one they chose, the fact that you loved doesn’t change… A bittersweet yet forward-looking sentiment runs through this touching HY ballad.

Written as the theme song for the film “366 Days,” released in January 2025, the track is positioned as an answer song to their 2008 classic “366 Days.” It beautifully portrays emotional growth—rising from the pain of heartbreak and embracing even that experience as a cherished memory—and is also included on the album “TIME.” Set across Okinawa and Tokyo, the film unfolds a pure love story spanning 20 years, and this song superbly captures its worldview.

For those who have reached the end of a romance, or who are about to take a new step forward, this is a song that will gently give you a push.