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

The Land of LoveKato Miria

Miliyah Kato “Land of Love” Music Video

Even though you both probably have feelings for each other, it’s a love that will never be fulfilled—if you’ve found yourself in that kind of situation, I want you to listen to Miliyah Kato’s “Ai no Kuni.” Its straightforward lyrics about loving someone who already has someone else and a yearning that can’t be resolved resonate with those suffering through the same kind of love.

Especially because it’s hard to open up to others about this kind of heartache, songs can become a source of support.

Ai no Kuni shares the lonely, bittersweet pain you have to carry on your own.

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Kado(guchi) Shichigatsu

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orionYonezu Kenshi

Kenshi Yonezu – Orion, Kenshi Yonezu

Kenshi Yonezu, who has crafted numerous heartrending love ballads, also created this song, “orion,” one of the most popular numbers among his love songs.

It’s also known as the ending theme for the anime March Comes in Like a Lion.

A love song themed around the winter constellation Orion, it conveys the chill of winter air, deepening the sense of melancholy.

Even if the love is unrequited, you find yourself wishing toward the sky—your chest tightens with the urge to entrust your hopes to God or the stars.

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utatane

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Fall in LoveKobayashi Akiko

Fall in Love - Koibito ni Ochite by Akiko Kobayashi

It’s a song that conveys both poignancy and warmth.

This is the biggest hit by Akiko Kobayashi, an artist renowned for her love songs.

It’s a love ballad that portrays the feelings of a woman who falls for someone already in a relationship and is torn by a love that cannot be fulfilled.

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sasashina

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Stop this nightJUJU

JUJU “Stop This Night for Me”

One of JUJU’s signature songs, this track was chosen as the theme song for the drama “Guilty: The Woman Who Made a Pact with the Devil.” Many listeners may have seen themselves in the woman in the music video, shedding tears over a man.

For women who are in relationships they can’t talk about, the opening lines of the lyrics really hit home.

The title might reflect the intensity of her feelings for a man who, once morning comes, returns to someone else.

It’s a moving masterpiece that we want everyone experiencing an unrequited love to hear.

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sasashina

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Before you become a memorysupittsu

Before You Become a Memory / Spitz

A song released by Spitz in 1993.

As the title suggests, it’s about the end of a romance where the singer can no longer see “you.” Precisely because they cherish this person and want to keep the memory alive, the poignant lyrics—wishing to see that smile one last time—strike a chord.

It’s an iconic early work by Spitz, a refreshing yet heartrending classic.

Say you like me.aimyon

Say you like me.

This is a song from Aimyon’s second album “Nik umarekk o Yo ni Habakaru,” released in 2015, that sings about a slightly endearing—almost frightening—maiden’s heart.

I feel like Aimyon’s second album confronts themes of “life” and “death,” so this track, positioned as a pure love song, stands out a bit as an oddity.

The lyrics, in which a girl who was cheated on and dumped vents her bitterness and resentment, might be highly relatable for women who’ve been through the same.

It’s amusing how the title “Suki tte Itte yo” (“Say you love me”) starts to feel more like “Say you love me, now.”

all night longOnda Masanori

"All Night Long" / Masanori Onda

A single song that portrays a love that can never be fulfilled, leaving a lingering sense of bittersweet sorrow even as the wish is kept hidden in one’s heart.

Carried by a melody that sticks in your ears, time flows quietly and solemnly, as if the two, despite knowing each other’s feelings, cannot escape the nighttime world that traps them.

Released by Masanori Onda in February 2025, this work captured the hearts of many struggling with love.

Listening while watching the music video—so full of aching sadness—will deepen your empathy for the pain of an unattainable love.