My heart aches with bittersweet pain! Breakup songs I’d recommend to Gen Z
Timeless masterpieces about heartbreak have always existed in the J-POP scene.Listening can heal you, make you empathize without even realizing it, or even let you dive headfirst into your sadness—love and music are deeply connected, aren’t they?So this time, we’re introducing heartbreak songs we recommend for Gen Z!From well-known hits to hidden gems, we hope you’ll find tracks that resonate with you.
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My chest tightens with heartbreak! Breakup songs I want to recommend to Gen Z (21–30)
BAD LOVEHANA
“I believed in you, but you betrayed me.” “It’s precisely because I loved you so much that I can’t forgive you.” There are nights when you’re shaken by such fierce emotions.
With members JISOO and MOMOKA contributing to the lyrics, this work portrays a struggle where love and hate are intertwined.
The vocals riding on the intense beats of rock and drum & bass carry a force that seems to speak for a wounded heart.
Released in September 2025, it also drew attention as a commercial tie-in song.
It’s a track we especially want those who spent a bittersweet Valentine’s Day—one that couldn’t end with only sweet memories—to hear.
Why not let all your anger and sadness out and transform them into the energy you need to look forward?
Night of Osmanthuskinoko teikoku
A song by Kinoko Teikoku that continues to captivate fans with its uniquely immersive world.
Featured on the album “Time Lapse,” this track seeps into the heart with its dreamy guitar sound and wistful vocals.
Its lyrics, which recall tangled feelings for someone you’ve parted with—revived along with the scent of fragrant olive—stir that distinctly autumnal sentimentality.
The beautiful yet melancholic ensemble invites you to sink into the chill of the season—a rock tune overflowing with bittersweet emotion.
Released in September 2018, the track is included on the album commemorating the band’s 10th anniversary.
The taste of loveneguse.
A digital-only single released in November 2025.
In contrast to the lively pop-rock they excel at, this one is crafted as a mid-tempo slow number.
The lyrics look back on a relationship that has already ended, poignantly blending the regret of wishing they’d been more honest about their feelings at the time with the certainty that they were truly happy.
It’s a track that makes you want to revisit past loves—perfect for the chill of the season.
Unfit to be a loverKoresawa
A breakup ballad from a male perspective that portrays the anguish and regret of the one who said goodbye.
It’s a self-cover sung from the viewpoint of the man who leaves the room in Koresawa’s signature song “Tabako.” Released as a digital single in June 2019, it was later included on the concept mini-album “Heartbreak Scrap” in January 2020.
Originally written for Miyuhan, the track drew attention with its music video featuring Ryusei Yokohama.
The song movingly captures the conflict of a man who ends the relationship precisely because he loves her, blaming not her but his own shortcomings.
Listening to it alongside “Tabako” deepens your understanding of the couple’s emotional misalignment.
Highly recommended for anyone who’s experienced the end of a cherished relationship or carries guilt over having hurt someone they love.
Maplesupittsu
A ballad that sings of the resolve to live on with the pain of parting.
Those warm days when even casual exchanges with a loved one—and the ache in your heart—were all wrapped in their smile.
Yet even as the protagonist accepts a daily life that will never return, the way they move forward as if embracing a voice is deeply moving.
After being included on the album “Fake Fur,” it was released in July 1998 as a double A-side single with “Spica.” It has been used in numerous dramas, including as an insert song for Fuji TV’s “Over Time” and in NTV’s “Zambi.” It’s a song that gently stays by the side of anyone who can’t stop dwelling on a lost love or who can’t forget someone dear.
Masamune Kusano’s clear, translucent vocals deliver a ray of hope within the sorrow.
Best-before date of lovetuki.
While sensing the end of love, they still can’t let go of their affection for the other person.
This song by tuki.
portrays that contradictory heart with painfully raw realism.
Frustrated by miscommunication over social media, yet feeling happy just to be by their side—the protagonist’s feelings will inevitably tighten the listener’s chest.
Released in September 2024, exactly one year after the striking debut “Bansanka,” this work is an answer song.
With other tracks featured in PlayStation 5 commercials, tuki.’s unique world continues to captivate many.
If you’ve ever experienced the aching loneliness of a relationship slowly cooling, you’ll surely resonate deeply.
On nights when you’re bewildered by love that’s changing, why not quietly align your heart with this song, alone?
rendezvousshaitoopu
The rock band Shytone, which rose to prominence after a viral hit on social media, released a signature track in April 2023 that sings of a man’s searing emotions after a breakup.
Unable to accept parting from someone he loved deeply, he longs for an impossible reunion; the loneliness of his lover’s traces fading from everyday life is expressed through vocalist So Sasaki’s superb word choices—so moving you might be brought to tears.
The song is also known for surpassing 100 million total streams in November 2023 and is included on the album “Hors d’œuvre.” Why not entrust your heart to its somehow comforting melody that stirs up those bittersweet feelings?