[Gratitude, Encouragement, Memories] Tear-Jerking Graduation Songs You Can’t Listen to Without Crying [2026]
The graduation ceremony marks the culmination of your school life.
As you look back on your memories, you may feel nostalgic, lonely, or reluctant to say goodbye—so many emotions can come rushing in.
In this article, we’ll introduce graduation songs that will stay close to your heart when you’re overflowing with such feelings.
“I held it together and didn’t cry at the ceremony, but once I got home and was alone, I felt lonely…” “I’m hopeful about my new life, but saying goodbye to everyone is still so sad!” We’ve gathered songs we want you to listen to in moments like these.
They’re all timeless tracks that capture the loneliness you’re feeling and the memories you cherish—moving songs that might just bring you to tears.
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[Gratitude, Encouragement, Memories] Tearjerking Graduation Songs You Can’t Listen to Without Crying [2026] (101–110)
Sakura: To You Who Couldn’t GraduateHanzaki Yoshiko
A song by Yoshiko Hanzaki, a Hokkaido-born singer-songwriter who discovered her passion for music while in college and made her major-label debut after 17 years of groundwork.
Featured as the first track on her debut mini-album “Uta-ben,” the song’s poignant lyrics, based on a friend’s real-life experience, really tighten the chest.
When student life is fulfilling, graduation itself can feel sad, but the message that safely graduating and having a future are not things to be taken for granted may be shocking and thought-provoking for students about to embark on a new path.
It’s a tear-jerking number that teaches us the preciousness of moving on to the next stage.
I’m glad I met you.Inoue Sonoko
A song by Sonoko Inoue, a singer-songwriter from Hyogo Prefecture.
It’s a number that vividly evokes a scene of holding back sadness and saying goodbye on the day of the graduation ceremony.
The lyrics express gratitude for the encounters up to now and convey thanks to someone important before setting out alone on a new path—making it a song you’ll want to listen to when you graduate.
weNishino Kana
It was released in 2012 as Kana Nishino’s 17th single.
Chosen as the theme song for the Toho-distributed film “Girl,” it’s a friendship song that portrays bonds between women.
It’s a warm track that conveys the feeling that even after graduation, as we go our separate ways, our friendship will never change.
cherry blossomberii guddoman
A song by the music group Berry Goodman—affectionately known as “Berigu”—whose heartwarming worldview and soulful vocals have won widespread popularity.
Included on their second album, Spring Spring Spring, which drew attention as the group’s first concept album, the track’s lyrical words set to beautiful harmonies evoke scenes of a graduation ceremony.
Its lyrics, which reflect on the sadness of parting from friends and the memories of school days, are likely to make anyone feel nostalgic.
It’s a number you’ll want everyone to listen to together at graduation, one that makes you believe in bonds that never change.
Thank you, and goodbye.koaramōdo
In addition to their live-house performances, the music unit Coalamode.
has been gaining recognition through energetic street performances and video-sharing platforms.
This song, included on their third single “Sakurabocchi,” is a classic graduation song created around the theme of graduation.
The lyrics, which depict the complex emotions and bittersweet scenes leading up to parting with friends, as well as words that can only be conveyed on the day of the ceremony, are sure to resonate with students about to embark on a new path.
It’s a lyrical number that perfectly suits a graduation scene, expressing gratitude, farewell, and a vow to meet again.
[Gratitude, Encouragement, Memories] Tear-Jerking Graduation Songs You Can’t Listen to Without Crying [2026] (111–120)
Graduation PhotoArai Yumi
This song is by singer-songwriter Yumi Arai, who now performs as Yumi Matsutoya and has created numerous hit songs.
It’s included on her third album, COBALT HOUR, and is widely known as a classic graduation song.
Its melancholic melody and lyrics that evoke memories of student days stir a sense of wistfulness no matter the era.
It’s a track you’ll want to listen to when you find yourself overlaying the passage of time since graduation with who you are today—a number that brings back youth in a flash, along with faint memories of first love.
1096Cody Rī (Ri)
Cody・Lee (Li), a band that exudes a unique blend of wistfulness and warmth woven into everyday life, offers a farewell-themed number.
Written by vocalist and guitarist Hibiki Takahashi in the winter when he dropped out of high school at 18, the lyrics don’t celebrate a radiant youth; instead, they chronicle three “hopeless” years, capturing the feelings of a high schooler in a true-to-life way.
Hailing from Hanamaki City in Iwate Prefecture, Takahashi threads a graduation song whose world is suffused with the quiet beauty of steadily falling snow and a gentle overflow of everyday dignity and love—an atmosphere that’s absolutely irresistible.
