Tear-jerking love songs: classic and popular hits from Japanese music

White LoversKuwata Keisuke

Keisuke Kuwata – Shiroi Koibitotachi (Full ver.)

A gem-like ballad woven from winter’s chill and gentle warmth.

Rather than viewing past love as a failure, it tenderly celebrates those moments of affection, wrapped in the distinctive warmth of Keisuke Kuwata’s vocals.

With imagery like snow quietly piling up and a calm atmosphere shaped by strings and winds, this single was released in October 2001.

Familiar from Coca-Cola commercials and, more recently, UNIQLO’s HEATTECH ads, the song also won the Gold Prize at that year’s Japan Record Awards.

It’s a heartfelt recommendation for anyone who has gone through a farewell with someone dear and wants to cherish the memories.

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.

MetronomeYonezu Kenshi

Kenshi Yonezu – Metronome

This is a bittersweet love song delicately woven by Kenshi Yonezu.

It likens the growing misalignment of two people’s feelings to the ticking tempos of two metronomes, portraying from a male perspective how a tiny discrepancy gradually widens into an irreparable rift, even as he cannot forget the other person.

When in love, we tend to get carried away alone and assume the other person feels the same.

It’s important to consider things from their point of view—including whether you truly like them and whether they truly like you.

This work is included on the album “Bremen,” released in October 2015.

User ManualNishino Kana

Kana Nishino 'Torisetsu' MV (Short Ver.)

When it comes to love songs, Kana Nishino comes to mind, and among her tracks, “Torisetsu”—often talked about because many men say they can’t relate to the lyrics—was the theme song for the film “No Longer Heroine,” starring Mirei Kiritani.

It’s a comedic love song that straightforwardly sings about feelings that even women find hard to put into words.

End creditstenkousei

Transfer Student – “End Roll” Music Video

This is a signature song by Natsue Mizumoto’s solo project, Tenko-sei, which went on hiatus in 2013.

Natsue Mizumoto’s vocals have a captivating transparency—so delicate they seem as if they might vanish.

I think many people are drawn to the fragile, almost breakable instability that defines Tenko-sei.

Why feat. Emimi NodaTakase Tōya

Takuya Takase / Why feat. Emi Noda (Official Music Video)

A heartbreak ballad distinguished by a beautiful, soul-stirring melody.

Toya Takase’s emotional vocals and Emi Noda’s clear voice brilliantly capture the bittersweet feelings after a breakup.

Released digitally in January 2022 and included on the album “13-gatsu 1-nichi” (The First Day of the 13th Month), this song resonated with many listeners who relate to the joys of love and the pain of parting, drawing attention on charts across Asia.

It’s a track I wholeheartedly recommend to anyone who feels the loneliness that deepens at night or the emptiness of losing someone dear.