Hidden gems of love songs. Recommended popular tracks.
A slightly under-the-radar but wonderful love song.
It didn’t become an explosive hit, but it’s a favorite!
Doesn’t everyone have one or two songs like that?
In this article, we’ve researched those hidden gems.
From among them, we carefully selected love songs from the “Hogaku” (Japanese pop/rock) scene that received great feedback from our readers.
How many of them do you know?
If you think, “I love this!”, you might want to share the link with your friends or someone special.
Please enjoy!
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Hidden gem love songs. Recommended popular tracks (11–20)
Even if we’re far apart…Every Little Thing
Every Little Thing became explosively popular among people of the same generation, regardless of gender, in the late 1990s.
If you’re from that generation, there are probably many of you who still sing their songs at karaoke, right? The song “Tatoe Tooku Hanaretetemo…” is included on ELT’s first album, “everlasting,” released in 1997.
This album became ELT’s first million-seller.
As the title suggests, it’s a love song about being far apart—a long-distance relationship.
Wedding SongKyarameru Peppāzu
The three-member music unit Caramel Peppers’ song “Wedding SONG.” This track is included as the final piece on their first mini-album, “LOVE LOVE LOVE SONGS,” released in 2010.
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call it one of their signature songs, and as the title suggests, it’s a popular wedding tune.
Rather than just a love song from a man to a woman, the entire piece feels like a proposal set to music—a number overflowing with love.
nape (of the neck)aiko
A poignant winter ballad by aiko, beloved by fans as a hidden gem.
She sings earnestly of an unerasable love, recalling things like her ex-lover’s slightly grown-out nape-length hair and awkward smile.
Released as a single in November 2003, it was also performed at that year’s Kōhaku Uta Gassen.
Although it had no commercial tie-in, it served as the lead track from the album “Akatsuki no Love Letter,” and its moving finish makes sense in light of the anecdote that aiko herself was brought to tears during production.
On nights when you want to linger in the memory of an unforgettable love, this song may gently keep you company.
Our world for twoaimyon
An early love song by Aimyon, included on her first full album, “Seishun no Excitement” (Excitement of Youth).
When it comes to Aimyon, her modest metaphors are wonderful, and the kind of straightforward expressions in this song are also captivating.
The ambiguity painted within its brightness is exquisite, conveying the atmosphere and temperature of a couple slipping into routine.
When you spend a lot of time together, you inevitably see sides you might rather not see—but there are also joys you can only experience with that person, after all.
WOWCUBERS
It’s a catchy, refreshing, and cute love-powered tune.
It’s a song by the boy unit CUBERS, released in 2020 as their third single.
The lyrics, written from a girl’s perspective whose feelings for her crush just won’t stop, are irresistibly heart-fluttering.
Combined with the cheerful vocal delivery, just listening to it will put a smile on your face.
With “I like you” expressed so straightforwardly, it’s almost a little embarrassing.
It might especially resonate with high school and junior high school girls.
mayflyONE OK ROCK
A ONE OK ROCK number that portrays the inability to be honest about the feeling of love—saying “I like you.” Featured on the album Zeitakubyō, the song likens this self who can’t be straightforward to a wavering “kagerō” (a heat haze or mirage), an existence so unsteady it’s hard to tell if it’s really there.
You truly like them so much, and somewhere inside you already know it, yet you can’t quite admit it because you’re afraid of the reality that awaits once you do.
The lyrics, which capture those unstable emotions precisely because of how deeply you care, are heart-wrenching.
Hidden gems of love songs: Recommended popular tracks (21–30)
The ring and the spare keyhaji→
This song, “Yubiwa to Aikagi” (“Ring and Spare Key”), by Hajime featuring Ai from the female vocal group RSP, is a love song whose title alone already tugs at the heart.
It’s a duet between a man and a woman, exchanging the feelings in their hearts with skillful interplay.
From the two’s first meeting and how they got together, to the long-distance relationship that began from there, this track lets you feel their shifting emotions as if you were holding them in your hands.
It resonates deeply, like reading a novel or manga—a story-like number.
Especially recommended for those in a long-distance relationship.