[2026] Graduate with a Smile! Recommended Uplifting Graduation Songs

What I want to tell you before graduationerica

erica – “What I Want to Tell You Before Graduation” PV (Full)

With lyrics overflowing with honest feelings for someone special and moving strings that resonate, “What I Want to Tell You Before Graduation” is a song that makes you want to graduate with a clear, uplifting heart.

Released by erica in 2015, it features a charming vocal and lyrics that anyone struggling with love can’t help but relate to.

It sings, in a true-to-life way, about the unavoidable parting from someone who shared your youth, and it’s a song I’d recommend to those who want to step forward with a refreshed mindset.

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mutō

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DarlingMrs. GREEN APPLE

Mrs. GREEN APPLE "Darling" Official Music Video

This song features a light rhythm that evokes the warmth of spring and a melody that gently embraces personal doubts and inner conflict.

It portrays, from Mrs.

GREEN APPLE’s characteristically down-to-earth perspective, the emotional wavering everyone experiences in youth—wondering whether it’s okay to be one’s true self.

Created as a symbol of the band’s new phase, it was produced as the theme song for the NHK General special program “Mrs.

GREEN APPLE 18 Festival” in January 2025, and its collaboration with 1,000 18-year-olds generated a huge response.

This track warmly and gently nudges forward those beginning a new chapter in life or searching for their authentic selves.

Sakura Apprelationdenpagumi.inc

Dempagumi.inc “Sakura Appellation” MV

Among Dempagumi.inc’s songs, this one brims with a springlike vibe and can also be enjoyed as a graduation anthem! It’s a quintessentially them track—cute and high-energy—and just listening to it will naturally put you in a good mood.

While most of the lyrics are cheerful and upbeat, the closing section unfolds with words that gently tug at your heart, and that contrast might really move you.

With a consistently Japanese-tinged sound throughout, it’s a song that leaves you feeling bright and uplifted!

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Hane Keisuke

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MemoriesNiziU

NiziU 「Memories」 Dance Performance Video (One Take ver.)

Let me introduce NiziU’s spring song that makes your school-day memories shine.

Released in February 2024 as the theme song for Universal Studios Japan’s student campaign “Uni-Haru 2024,” the track will also be included on the mini-album AWAKE, scheduled for release in February 2025.

Its lyrics remind you that the ordinary days spent with friends are irreplaceable treasures, and its catchy sound will make you want to move.

Using friendly, conversational language, it captures both the bittersweetness and hope of spring, when meetings and farewells intersect.

It’s perfect if you want to greet graduation with a smile or brighten your final moments with classmates.

Listen and dance together, and you’ll create an unforgettable first page of a new beginning!

DepartureFUNKY MONKEY BABYS

FUNKY MONKEY BABYS “Departure”

This is “Tabidachi” by FUNKY MONKEY BABYS, a song that sings of hope for the future.

At graduation, your heart is a mix of many feelings—memories up to now, expectations and anxieties about what’s ahead.

When you feel like “I want to go back, but I can’t,” listen to this song.

It will surely give you the courage to take a step toward the future.

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sasashina

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Heaven and Earth ReversalNICO Touches the Walls

NICO Touches The Walls – Turning the Heavens and Earth (Tenchi Gaeshi)

Even the things you worried about and got lost over will become bright memories by the time you graduate.

“Tenchi Gaeshi” is a song that makes you want to face tomorrow, overcoming the various experiences that happen in school life.

Released by NICO Touches the Walls in 2014, it was used as the theme song for the anime Haikyu!!.

Its sound, reminiscent of folk music, is light and lively, and the lyrics—encouraging you to keep smiling even while you struggle—are wonderful.

Around graduation, you’re bound to remember all kinds of things from club activities to romance to everyday happenings at school.

This work reminds you that the feelings you’ve been carrying aren’t useless—they can be transformed into something bright!

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mutō

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Best FriendNishino Kana

Kana Nishino 'Best Friend' Live Performance

Singer-songwriter Kana Nishino garnered support primarily among younger generations thanks to her relatable lyrics and presence as a fashion leader.

Her 9th single, “Best Friend,” selected as the campaign song for NTT Docomo’s “Ganbare Jukensei,” is an impressive number marked by a transparent, pop-infused sound created by strings.

The bonds nurtured with friends during school days—and the resulting hope for a bright future—are feelings that many soon-to-be graduates will relate to in their own way.

With its positive message and melody bringing both smiles and tears, it’s an emotional graduation song.

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Hoshino Takashi

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