Lovely background music

Perfect for travel!! Songs that make you want to hit the road. Traveler’s songs that resonate with life.

POPS writer/editorKEI
Since discovering music during my school days, I’ve mainly listened to Japanese and Korean pop. I have experience writing articles for sites like Utaten. 2000s J-pop and 2010s K-pop were especially the soundtrack of my youth. With the mindset that “good is good,” I enjoy music across genres. Thanks to past work environments and their influence, I was exposed to lots of classic rock and kayōkyoku (Japanese popular songs), which may have broadened the scope of what I love. At RAG MUSIC, I currently focus on K-pop and J-pop. I strive to edit with a feel for the scene and an eye for hit potential.
Editor-in-Chief, RAG MUSICHane Keisuke
Editor-in-chief of RAG MUSIC. JFC-certified fact-checker. After working in a music studio and handling wedding sound, joined the RAG MUSIC editorial team in 2016. Experienced with a variety of instruments: marching band in elementary school, clarinet in junior high school wind ensemble, and drums in a band from high school onward. Drawing on my own musical activities and the experience gained through my work, I produce daily articles, including various song introductions, features on music festivals around the country, and live reports. In music, I enjoy not only rock from Japan and abroad but, lately, a wide range of J-pop as well.

When you’re busy with work or school, many of you probably start feeling the urge to take a trip.

There are many styles of travel—solo journeys where you encounter new scenery, values, and people, or trips to soothe your tired mind and body—but one thing’s for sure: with music along for the ride, you’re guaranteed to have an even better time!

In this article, we’ll introduce plenty of songs that are perfect for traveling and will boost your wanderlust.

Along with songs that are literally about travel, we’ve also included tracks that liken life itself to a journey.

We hope you’ll find a favorite that’s just right for you.

Perfect for travel!! Songs that make you want to hit the road. Traveler’s songs that resonate with life (71–80)

Chuo FreewayMatsutōya Yumi

Yumi Matsutoya – Chuo Freeway (Yumi Arai The Concert with old Friends)

Chuo FreewayMatsutōya Yumi

For this generation, it may well be a song that’s indispensable when you hear the word “travel.” Yumi Matsutoya—better known as Yuming—wrote the song Chuo Freeway.

It’s famous for mentioning concrete scenery and place names as seen from the Chuo Expressway.

Since it depicts the landscape and feelings on a freeway—on a highway—it’s perfect for a road trip.

It’s a song that carries the wistful mood of late-’70s Japanese pop, and driving with this track might make your journey a touch calmer and a little more ennui-tinged than usual.

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Murakami Shinpei

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Deep RiverUtada Hikaru

Hikaru Utada – Deep River

Deep RiverUtada Hikaru

A song by singer-songwriter Hikaru Utada, whose five years of human experience have notably broadened her expressive range and musicality.

It’s the title track of her third album, DEEP RIVER, and its superbly crafted oriental atmosphere is said to have been inspired by novelist Shusaku Endo’s Deep River.

With arrangements featuring the sitar and a hint of folk-music sensibility, it conjures images of traveling through foreign lands.

It’s a number that stirs a yearning for a different world from everyday life and makes you want to set off on a journey to somewhere far away.

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Hoshino Takashi

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In conclusion

We’ve introduced lots of songs that are perfect for traveling! Even just listening at home makes you want to head out on a trip right away, doesn’t it? They’re also great companions when you actually hit the road, with plenty of tracks that boost the travel vibe.

When you set off on your next journey, be sure to listen to the songs we featured and make plenty of memories!