Farewell Song: A Song About Changing Schools, A Song to Give to Friends
Transferring schools is a big event, isn’t it?
If you’re the one transferring, it means leaving the place you’ve spent so much time in.
And if it’s a friend who’s leaving, it can feel like a hole opens up in your heart… Just imagining it is bittersweet.
In this article, I’ve put together songs on the theme of “transferring schools.”
Most of them are farewell songs, but some pieces feel like they can save you from sadness.
It may be a tearful goodbye now, but someday you’ll feel through music that the experience was something good for your life… That’s the kind of playlist this is.
- A farewell song for a dear friend—an uplifting graduation song that conveys heartfelt gratitude.
- Recommended friendship songs for children. Songs about friends you’ll want to listen to with your pals.
- Friendship songs recommended for elementary school students. Bonding songs you’ll want to listen to with your friends.
- Farewell Song: A goodbye song. A tearful parting song.
- [A moving friendship song] For dear friends and best friends. Songs of friendship that make you feel the bond.
- A gratitude song for friends. A thank-you song dedicated to someone special.
- Farewell Songs: Karaoke tunes to sing at a farewell party. Goodbye songs.
- Six types of farewell songs: goodbye songs for each scene
- [Tearjerker] Songs that make your heart tremble with tears & moving tracks with lyrics that touch the soul
- [For High School Students] A Collection of Touching Friendship Songs
- Friendship Songs: Rediscover Your Bonds! A Carefully Curated Selection of Moving Masterpieces That Will Bring You to Tears
- A funny song that livens up a farewell party
- Songs to use in the memory movie. Let’s look back on our memories before graduation!
[Farewell Songs] Songs about transferring schools / songs to give to friends (41–50)
HarukaYOASOBI
A moving work spun from the story of a mug that has watched over someone’s half a lifetime.
In YOASOBI’s music-led tale, the mug sometimes illuminates life’s milestones and at other times gently embraces small moments of growth.
Everyday scenes sprinkled throughout vividly reflect the bittersweetness of partings and growing up that everyone experiences.
Released in December 2020, this work is based on Osamu Suzuki’s novel “Tsuki Ouji” (Moon Prince).
It has also been featured as the commercial song for Takara Tomy’s LCD care toy “Puniruns” and as the image song for “Art Aquarium 2021 — Hakata: Festival of Goldfish,” garnering support from a wide audience.
It is a song that stays close to those who have parted with a cherished memento or who are facing a farewell with someone dear.
[Farewell Songs] Songs about Changing Schools, Songs to Give to Friends (51–60)
Bye-byeMoriyama Naotaro
This is a piece by Naotaro Moriyama themed around parting and setting off, which had previously only been performed live.
It premiered in April 2025 on the YouTube channel THE FIRST TAKE.
It’s a bluegrass song, characterized by a lively, bright sound centered on banjo and fiddle.
Moriyama’s clear, straightforward vocals beautifully capture what lies beyond goodbye, leaving listeners with a positive feeling by the end.
It’s perfect for those at a turning point in life or anyone looking to make a fresh start.
We againSG
A graduation song filled with memories and warmth that’s drawing attention is the work of SG.
Looking back on the carefree days, its gentle melody wraps around the feelings of parting and what comes after, warming the heart.
The lyrics, full of strength to move forward and hope for reunion, soothe many people as a piece that stands beside them at important milestones in life.
Since November 2024, it has also been featured in Calorie Mate’s exam-season support commercial, adding a new charm through a wind ensemble arrangement.
This piece was produced with the cooperation of the Hanazono Tokuei High School Wind Ensemble, and the music created together with the students delivers a moving resonance that crosses generations.
It is a fitting song to gently push you forward at graduations, farewell gatherings, and moments of parting with someone important.
It’s goodbye, but it’s not goodbye.yamadakatsutenai Wink
Yamada Katsutenai Wink wraps this classic spring song—one you want to hear around graduation season—in warm, gentle vocals.
Its melody, which sings of the sorrow of parting and the hope of reunion, nestles close to the heart and gives you courage to face a new future.
Released in February 1991, the song was used as an insert track on Fuji TV’s “Hō-chan no Yamada Katsutenai Terebi” and became a major hit, reaching No.
2 on the Oricon weekly chart.
With lyrics by Kuniko Yamada and music by KAN in beautiful harmony, it’s a gem of a message song that teaches us that parting is not an end but a beginning.
Listened to in the season of departures, it’s a wonderful, heartwarming cheer song that continues to be loved by many.
GarnetOku Hanako
In July 2006, Hanako Oku released a work whose gentle, warm emotions resonate alongside its melody.
Written as the theme song for the feature-length animated film The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, it was her fourth single.
The lyrics delicately portray scenes on the school grounds and the after-school atmosphere, wrapping cherished memories of school life—and the precious moments everyone wants to hold onto—gently and tenderly.
Created at the request of the film’s production team by reading the story from the storyboard and script, the song was completed to align closely with the protagonist’s feelings.
It spent 19 weeks on the Oricon charts and won the Heisei Anisong Grand Prize for Best Film Theme Song.
It’s a track I can wholeheartedly recommend for moments when you want to share memories with friends or dedicate a song to someone dear.
Only the graduation photo knowsHinatazaka46
A spring song by Hinatazaka46 that poignantly sings of cherry blossoms, graduation, and unspoken love.
With lyrics by Yasushi Akimoto and music by Nasuka, the piece is set on the day of a graduation ceremony, portraying memories and regrets that resurface with the arrival of spring.
In the music video—filmed on a set themed around cherry blossom trees—Nao Kosaka takes center stage as a dreamlike, parade-like world unfolds.
First performed at the Tokyo Dome on December 26, 2024, it was released as the group’s 13th single on January 29, 2025.
Capturing the feelings of youthful, unripe love and the emotions left unsaid, it’s a track that deeply resonates with younger listeners.
It’s also a perfect fit for elementary school graduation ceremonies and springtime events.
Graduation PhotoArai Yumi
A masterpiece woven from a gentle singing voice that stays close to the heart and lyrics that gracefully portray nostalgia for days gone by.
Featured on the album “COBALT HOUR,” released by Yumi Arai in June 1975, this song delicately expresses life and change after graduation.
It lyrically spins memories of a cherished person who lives on forever within the warmth of reminiscence.
It was also selected as the theme song for Fuji TV’s drama “Sotsu Uta” and the film “Watch with Me.” A heartwarming encouragement song to listen to in times of sorrow or at life’s crossroads.