Breakup songs sung by male Japanese (J-pop) artists
There are so many words about love.Unrequited love, mutual love, breakups… There are lots of songs about these, too—perhaps it’s a national trait.Interestingly, in Japanese music, breakup songs seem especially common among them.Here, I’ve gathered 30 such heartbreak songs sung by male artists.May these masterpieces seep into and soothe your wounded heart.
Breakup songs sung by male Japanese artists (1–10)
Come see me if you ever feel like dying.NEW!Blue Mash
This is a track from Blue Mash, a four-piece rock band from Neyagawa, Osaka, on their major-label debut full-length album, “Naku na, Seishun.” Released in March 2026, the song is imbued with an earnest intensity—vocalist Yuto even calls it “the best song I’ve ever written.” The title phrase turns out to be a gentle word once given by the other person, a paradoxical twist that hits hard.
Set against springtime scenery, the lyrics sing of the absence of someone who was once a pillar of support, vividly portraying the pain of heartbreak and the sense of youth slipping away.
The impulsive band sound, honed through nearly a hundred shows a year, and the urgent melody tug at the emotions.
It’s a song we especially hope will reach those who have experienced parting with someone dear and are left with inescapable longing and a profound sense of loss.
tear(s)NEW!Marushii
Don’t you ever find your chest tightening out of the blue as dazzling summer memories come flooding back? This piece by Marcy is a bittersweet love ballad where sparkling romance intersects with the sorrow of parting.
The more vividly the fun times return, the more sharply the pain of loss stands out.
From vocalist Ukyo Yoshida’s emotive performance, you can feel the relentless regret and sense of loss pouring through.
Released in August 2025, the song was later included on the album “Flavors.” It’s a track that gently stays close to those who find themselves looking back on happier days and carrying an aching heart.
On nights when you can’t help searching for the one you can’t forget, this is a song you should definitely listen to.
dead endNEW!Hoshino Gen
This song, whose poignant yearning to reclaim lost time resonates deeply, is a work by Gen Hoshino.
It was written as the theme song for the film “Hiraba no Tsuki,” released in November 2025.
Created after the landmark album “Gen,” this piece is characterized by an extremely simple arrangement of just piano and voice, exquisitely depicting an adult living on while carrying regret for a once‑beloved person and emotions with no place to go.
Standing at the end of a love that can never return, the clumsy determination of a man who still tries to look forward will surely bring you to tears.
It’s a number I hope those who wish to spend a quiet night alone, gently holding the pain of a finished love, will listen to.
IFNEW!Novelbright
Introducing a song that gently embraces the complex feelings of a man who has experienced parting with someone precious and, while watching their figure fade into the distance, tries to move forward.
It’s the final, 13th track on Novelbright’s album “PYRAMID,” released in April 2026.
The lyrics were written by guitarist Kaito Yamada, who overlaid the band members’ own steps and changes, while vocalist Yudai Takenaka and others composed the music.
It holds a warm gaze that stays close to loneliness and anxiety.
The lyrical melody, with deliberate space, and the crystal-clear vocals resonate deep in the heart.
It’s pop-rock that gently gives you a push when you want to believe in the future even as you carry the sadness of parting.
Pink Strawberry Chocolate FridayNEW!Number_i
Despite its poppy, sugary turns of phrase, this breakup song tightens your chest with a mature sense of loss and a mellow resonance.
Produced, written, and composed by Sho Hirano, it’s a solo track included on Number_i’s second full-length album, “No.
II,” released in September 2025.
Over a sophisticated sound where electronica and hip-hop intersect, it sings of the afterimages of a love that has ended and the earnest longing for the person who even appears in dreams.
While putting on a bright face yet harboring lingering feelings, this piece stays close to you in those moments when you suddenly feel lonely in the stillness of the night.
With a voice that’s disarmingly straightforward and tinged with fragility, it gently lifts up the overflowing emotions for the one you can’t forget.
YouNEW!WILD BLUE
“You,” a single released by WILD BLUE in March 2026.
For the five-member boy group, this eighth digital single was written as the theme song for the drama “Bad Choice, Good Love,” starring their leader, Koki Yamashita.
Produced by UTA, it’s a mid-tempo ballad that delicately portrays feelings of regret and lingering attachment in love, as well as the resolve to accept the past and look forward.
In keeping with the drama’s theme of “redoing a fated love,” the song’s gentle vocals compellingly express subtle shifts in emotion.
It’s a track that quietly stays by your side on nights when you find yourself reflecting on days gone by and wanting to pause just a little.
Rain drunkennessNEW!jo0ji
A song overflowing with poignancy that embraces a friend’s deep sorrow as if it were one’s own.
Singer-songwriter jo0ji created this piece inspired by a friend’s heartbreak.
It portrays, with unvarnished honesty, a man who, while burdened by regret and lingering attachment, still tries to grasp a faint glimmer of hope.
Gentle, conversational vocals intertwine with Kazutoki Umezu’s deeply expressive saxophone to shape a heart-wrenchingly bittersweet world.
First unveiled as a demo in March 2022, the song was lovingly refined on stage over several years before its release in November 2025.
Though it has no major tie-ins, it is recommended for those who, on nights weighed down by the pain of a breakup, wish for something to quietly stay by their side.