[Unrequited Love] Heart-wrenching Love Songs | A Roundup of Tear-Inducing Crush and Breakup Tracks

MissingKubota Toshinobu

Toshinobu Kubota – Missing [Official Video Short ver.]

Toshinobu Kubota, who helped popularize R&B and Black music in Japan and continues to lead the country’s music scene, is known for his signature song “Missing.” It’s included on his first album, “SHAKE IT PARADISE,” released in 1986, and has been covered by many Japanese artists.

Beloved as a classic song about unrequited love, many people have probably heard it at karaoke and elsewhere.

lingering loveKitatani Ruki

Ruki Chatan “Koinokori” Official Music Video

A song by Ruki Chatan that brings the ache of heartbreak pressing against your chest.

Released in January 2023, it sparked a huge response on social media.

The delicate lyrics portray lingering attachment and regret after a breakup, as well as the pain of memories that won’t fade.

A pop-based melody is layered with a simple yet emotive vocal, highlighting the bittersweet feeling of carrying the remnants of a love that still lingers.

It’s a track that stays close to those suffering from heartbreak or looking back on a past romance.

Cherished by fans as a classic, it stands as an important work symbolizing Chatan’s growth.

loveOku Hanako

love

This is a song by Hanae Okumura that conveys feelings toward a beloved person who chose to be with someone else, as well as the pain of not being chosen.

The sound is composed solely of piano throughout, highlighting the vocals and delivering the anguish with stark directness.

The lyrics pierce the heart with a straightforward depiction of love’s pain—the reality that no matter how deep your feelings are, they may never reach the other person.

Even knowing it won’t come to fruition, the lingering love that can’t be discarded and the suffering it brings are portrayed from start to finish, making it a track filled with lingering attachment and regret.

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kappamaki

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PerfumeEito

Perfume / Eito (Official Music Video)

Although it was released in 2019, this song became a big hit in 2020.

Its distinctive melody line over a simple acoustic guitar accompaniment leaves such an impression that it sticks in your head after just one listen! The lyrics, said to be based on Eito’s own real-life experience, were apparently improvised during a jam session with his friends.

The story follows a reunion with a former lover, where the scent of her perfume triggers memories and lingering feelings from the past—yet, despite it all, they can’t get back together.

That bittersweet regret runs through the song.

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Hane Keisuke

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PuzzleBAND-MAID

BAND-MAID / Puzzle (Official Live Video)

A connection that felt like destiny, yet a relationship that could never be.

This BAND-MAID song portrays the struggle of a forbidden love.

The way the narrator tells themselves it’s okay not to be someone special to the other person may resonate painfully with anyone in an unrequited love.

These helpless emotions are sung with delicacy over powerful beats and a passionate sound.

The track is included on the album “Just Bring It,” released in January 2017.

Even knowing it won’t be reciprocated, the feelings won’t stop—this is a work that stays close to that complex state of mind.

nightSakamoto Maaya

MAAYA SAKAMOTO – Night (yoru)

This is a song by Maaya Sakamoto that evokes the protagonist’s aching emotions in a room after their lover has gone home.

Even as they desperately try to grasp the lingering fragrance of those happy moments, the memories slip through their fingers and vanish.

That elusive, fleeting quality seems to symbolize the poignancy of a forbidden love, making a deep impression.

The track is included on the acclaimed 2003 December release “Shōnen Alice.” Created during a period when Maaya Sakamoto was honing her expressive power as a stage actor, her vocals here exquisitely portray delicate emotions.

If you’re troubled by a relationship you can’t tell anyone about and find yourself savoring the loneliness of a solitary night, you’ll surely resonate with the protagonist’s solitary heart.

I love you, liar.Onda Masanori

I Like You, a Liar / Masanori Onda

‘I Like You, the Liar’ is a masterpiece by Masanori Onda that captures the sweet, aching pain of love in song.

Centered on the gentle resonance of an acoustic guitar, it shines with a sensibility that treats the heart’s wavering as its accompaniment.

The lyrics portray the frustration of being unable to cut lingering feelings, even while knowing the love will never be returned—sure to resonate with anyone nursing an unrequited love.

On nights when you can’t voice your feelings and end up crying alone, give it a listen.