Recommended tear-jerking songs for women: classic and popular J‑pop tracks
We’ve put together a collection of songs you’ll want to listen to when you’re heartbroken, or when, for reasons you can’t quite explain, you just want to have a good cry.
From famous tracks to hidden gems, this feature is sure to help you find the perfect song to match your mood.
Listen while thinking of someone, or while facing your own feelings.
Even well-known songs you hear all the time can make you think, “Wait, was this always such a tearjerker?” when you really listen closely.
So go ahead and cry your heart out—and feel refreshed afterward!
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Tearjerker songs recommended for women: Classic and popular Japanese tracks (41–50)
Forever LoveX JAPAN
This is X JAPAN’s 14th single, released in 1996.
It’s a ballad whose beautiful vocals and sound, along with heartrending lyrics, bring listeners to tears.
The song is also famous for being used in a commercial featuring Junichiro Koizumi, who openly declared himself an X Japan fan.
Toshi’s one-of-a-kind voice is truly moving.
maybeYOASOBI
A morning of ending for two, greeted in a room fallen silent.
This is a YOASOBI song that portrays such a matter-of-fact scene of parting.
Released in July 2020, it also served as the theme song for a short film.
True to the duo’s concept of “turning novels into music,” it was created based on a publicly submitted short story.
There’s a painfully real quality in the way they try to accept a relationship that drifted apart—not because either person was at fault—with the word “probably.” Ikura’s clear, translucent vocals delicately capture the subtleties of a heart that can’t neatly move on, and are sure to resonate deeply with those carrying the pain of heartbreak.
While accepting the end, you can’t help but empathize with the sudden longing for the past that slips in.
Snow BlossomNakajima Mika
“Yuki no Hana” (“Snow Flower”), a wish for happiness that lasts forever.
Released by singer Mika Nakashima in 2003, it’s an indispensable staple among tear-jerking masterpieces.
It’s a very happy song that portrays a couple spending time joyfully together and wishing to stay by each other’s side forever.
However, the song’s meaning truly comes together because of the presence of “snow,” which appears in the title and as the central motif.
Snow can only be seen in winter—pure white and beautiful, yet as spring approaches and the weather warms, it melts and disappears.
Even the most beautiful things will one day vanish; that sense of transience is woven into the song.
With that in mind, reading the lyrics reveals the bittersweet poignancy the song carries.
NO SIDEMatsutōya Yumi
It’s a song released in 1984.
It’s said to be themed around a rugby match, and the lyrics that evoke the end of the game are moving.
The warm vocals really resonate in the heart.
It’s a gentle masterpiece that stays close to the listener and feels like it’s cheering you on.
Only oneYano Akiko / Imawano Kiyoshiro
Akiko Yano’s song “Hitotsu Dake.” There’s her solo version and a collaboration with Kiyoshiro Imawano.
The vocal power and expressiveness of both artists really hit you, don’t they? It’s a gentle song, yet there are so many moments throughout the lyrics that pull you in, and before you know it, tears quietly spill.
Despite the lyrics overflowing with kindness, there’s also a warmth that feels like someone gently rubbing your back.
It’s a song I want to listen to when my heart is tired.
Scene of angelsOzawa Kenji
It’s included on the 1993 album “The Dogs Bark but the Caravan Moves On.” At over 13 minutes long, it’s an extended, deeply satisfying track.
Ozawa Kenji’s sweet vocals are striking.
It sings of life and death.
It’s a masterpiece that makes you contemplate existence and the universe—and brings you to tears.
If being alive is painfulMoriyama Naotaro
This is a song I really want people who feel that life is often hard to listen to.
It gently stays by your side when you’re worn out.
Aren’t there times when being told to “hang in there” feels painful? In those moments, this song—like a light you can see at the end of a tunnel—comes highly recommended.