Tear-jerking summer classics: recommended popular songs

Our Summer DreamYamashita Tatsuro

Our Summer Dream

This is a song by Tatsuro Yamashita that evokes a nostalgic feeling, like a summer evening.

The beautiful melody woven by piano and strings makes it feel as if you’re watching a film from start to finish.

The lyrics seem to carry images of Japan’s lost pastoral landscapes and a gentle wish for the future, and listening to it may slowly warm your heart.

It’s a track with a warm theme that conveys bonds with loved ones and a sense of hope.

Released as a single in August 2009, it moved many people as the theme song for director Mamoru Hosoda’s animated film “Summer Wars.” It’s perfect for a summer drive with the windows down, feeling the breeze, and just as fitting for nights when you want to sink into a slightly sentimental mood.

Sing it at karaoke, and it’s sure to resonate with everyone.

NatsumiAKASAKI

[AKASAKI] Natsumi / Kajitsu (Lyric Video)

This is the number by AKASAKI that gently accompanies the sudden wave of sentimentality that rises in your chest on a fading summer evening.

Released in September 2024 as their third single, its piano-centered sound evokes early-Heisei-era J-POP and stirs a sense of nostalgia.

The lyrics weave a beautiful story of the loss brought by a summer romance’s end and a lingering attachment to cherished days past.

The climax, where the singer reunites with “you” within a dreamlike vision, is sure to move listeners.

AKASAKI debuted in April 2024 with “Hikikomori,” and has since drawn attention with releases like “Namimakase.” It’s a gem to play at summer’s end, when you want to linger in a bittersweet afterglow.

Summer memories scented by the windAAA

AAA / “Summer Memories Fragrant on the Breeze” Music Video

A song whose bittersweet yet beautiful melody seeps into the heart, like recalling an old love in a fleeting moment on a summer evening.

Don’t the memories AAA sings of—days of summer now gone and a fragile romance—spread through your chest like a pale watercolor? The track was included as the B-side to AAA’s single “Wake up!” released in July 2014, and later featured on the album “GOLD SYMPHONY” released the same year, as well as the following year’s best-of collection “AAA 10th ANNIVERSARY BEST.” It was used in Ito-Yokado’s yukata commercial, coloring the memories of many alongside the sights and sounds of summer.

For those who want to soak in a sentimental mood at summer’s end, this song will gently stay by your side, bringing you close to those sweet-and-sour memories of days gone by.

You’re not here.Saucy Dog

Saucy Dog “Kimi ga Inai” Music Video <5th Mini Album “Lazy Sunday” Released on 2021.8.25>

A number by Saucy Dog that resonates with the heart in the summer twilight.

This song sets the protagonist’s aching feelings—holding on to unforgettable memories of love and a longing that can’t reach its destination—to a driving, exhilarating melody.

The emotions wavering between scenes of joyful days and the reality that can never be reclaimed tighten the listener’s chest.

The sentiment, akin to resignation, of “I can’t believe in forever” deeply resonates.

Released in July 2021, the track is also included on the mini-album Lazy Sunday.

It served as the ending theme for Iwate Menkoi TV’s music program BEATNIKS in September 2021.

Give it a listen on a summer night when you want to feel a little sentimental, or when you’d like to quietly reflect on a past love.

It will surely stay close to your heart.

TSUNAMISazan Ōrusutāzu

Tsunami – Southern All Stars

Like waves that surge and recede, this is one of Southern All Stars’ signature songs, painting an overwhelming swell of emotion you can’t control.

The lyrics, which layer the deep sorrow of heartbreak and a sense of helplessness over the irresistible force of nature, have touched countless hearts.

Beginning quietly with a piano melody and then enveloping you in grand strings as the feelings rise, the song was released in January 2000.

Embraced as the theme for the TV show segment “Mirai Nikki III” on “UNNAN no Hontoko!”, it became a work remembered both in records and in memories, winning the Grand Prize at the 42nd Japan Record Awards that same year.

On nights when you’re weighed down by unbearable sadness, listen to this song—surely it will stay close to your heart.

Goodbye, Summer DaysYamashita Tatsuro

Tatsuro Yamashita “Goodbye Summer Days”

This piece, where vivid memories of summer days blend with the bittersweet feeling of changing seasons, truly sinks deep into the listener’s heart, doesn’t it? It seems that Tatsuro Yamashita’s own high school experience—the sudden evening shower at a theme park pool he visited with his girlfriend, and the rainbow that appeared after the rain—became the source of the song’s emotionally rich lyrics and melody.

The fleeting brilliance of youth that the protagonist must feel, along with the premonition that it cannot last forever, is expressed with great finesse.

The song was released in May 1991 as an advance single from the album “ARTISAN,” and it also became familiar as a theme for a Dai-ichi Life commercial.

The fact that Yamashita performed all the instruments himself also speaks to his deep dedication to his craft.

It’s the perfect track for the end of summer, when you’re feeling a bit sentimental and want to reminisce about your younger days.

fireworksSandaime Jē Sōru Burazāzu fromu Eguzairu Toraibu

Sandaime J SOUL BROTHERS from EXILE TRIBE / Fireworks ~Short Version~

A gem-like ballad by Sandaime J SOUL BROTHERS from EXILE TRIBE that portrays a bittersweet love, evoking fleeting lights that shimmer and vanish in the summer night sky.

Told from a female perspective, the fleeting sparkle of a late-summer romance and the faint premonition of an eventual parting are carried on a beautiful melody that resonates with listeners.

Known as a signature track from the single “0 ~ZERO~,” released in August 2012, it was also loved as the ending theme for Asahi Broadcasting’s “Onegai! Ranking” that same month.

Why not listen to it on a night when you want something to gently accompany the quiet loneliness and lingering ache that follows the bustle of summer?