Songs that hit home when you're feeling blue: masterpieces of Japanese music
“I feel a vague sense of anxiety and can’t find any energy.” “I’m struggling with my relationships.” Don’t you have times when you feel so down that you don’t know what to do?
All you want is to live immersed in simple happiness… but it’s so hard.
At times like that, rather than forcing yourself to grit your teeth and endure, it might actually be easier to stop pushing and let yourself cry it all out.
Here, I’ve put together a selection of classic Japanese songs that will stay close to your heart when you’re feeling unbearably blue.
I hope this article can be of help to you.
- [Melancholy] For when you want to sink all the way. Masterpieces that depict various kinds of gloom.
- [Dark Songs] A carefully curated selection of deeply dark tracks and heartbreaking songs that accompany you in tough times
- [Yami Song] Fight darkness with darkness!? Deep tracks that stay close to your pain
- [Yami Song] A mental breakdown track that sings the true feelings of a melancholic heart
- [Tearjerker] Songs that make your heart tremble with tears & moving tracks with lyrics that touch the soul
- [For High School Students] Melancholy Songs That Stay Close to Your Feelings [Tough Times]
- Masterpieces that sing of despair. Recommended popular songs.
- [For when you want to cry or feel sad] Tear-jerking masterpieces that make you cry when you listen
- [When You're Lonely] A Collection of Songs That Resonate With Those All Alone
- [Songs of Worries] Listening will gently lighten your heart. Masterpieces that speak for your feelings
- A masterpiece that sings of loneliness. Recommended popular songs.
- Masterpieces that sing about loneliness: J-pop to listen to when you're alone
- [Cheering Songs] Japanese tracks to listen to when you’re troubled, lost, or feeling anxious
Piercing songs to listen to when you’re feeling blue: Masterpieces of Japanese music (51–60)
Our FailureMorita Doji
It’s become an old song now, but here’s one from Doji Morita’s signature works.
Her style—delivering those delicate lyrics as if singing them straight over a guitar—surely won her many fans.
Even today, it seems to remain popular as an acoustic guitar solo-vocal piece.
Absolute GirlfriendOmori Seiko
As of 2017, this is from the first track (?) of Seiko Oomori’s second album, which has seen explosive popularity.
If you’re a fan of Japanese music, you’ve probably seen her on YouTube at least once.
Rather than making you feel gloomy, it has a brightness that blows the gloom away.
There was no meaning to being born.mafumafu
This song is striking for its delicate vocals that surface from the darkness of the heart and its deep lyrics that dwell on nihilism and loss.
While it sings of losing the meaning of life and feeling alienated from society, it also conveys a will to move forward, giving it a philosophical depth.
Released in August 2019 and included on Mafumafu’s album “Kagurairo Artifact,” the piece showcases his finely tuned sensibility and expressive power to the fullest.
The composition is masterful, unfolding from a quiet piano intro into a grand band sound, where elements of emotional rock and balladry fuse in exquisite balance.
It’s a song that lets you feel the presence of someone who shares the same loneliness and sense of emptiness when you’re tormented by them.
It’s not that I want to die.Asanomachi
A song whose fleeting, translucent vocals almost bring you to tears.
Its lyrics—like the soft words that slip out in the stillness before sleep—gently embrace a lonely heart.
Asanomachii’s delicate production and KAFU’s crystal-clear voice blend beautifully, creating a work that deeply moves its listeners.
Released in August 2024 and included on the album “Yoi no Machi,” this track quietly stays close to those who feel life is hard or who struggle to find where they belong, and to those whose hearts are worn out by modern society.
It’s a song to lean on when you don’t want to force yourself to look ahead, but instead wish to face your feelings just as they are.
Let’s walk looking downamazarashi
A two-piece rock band, amazarashi, whose wide-ranging lyrical worldview—from realistic paeans to humanity to story-driven songs—has become a talking point.
Their song “Shita wo Muide Arukou,” included on their 7th album Eternal City, leaves a strong impression with a melody that evokes melancholy even within its pop sensibility, paired with an exhilarating sound.
Its unadorned, reality-laden lyrics may resonate with listeners who find themselves reflecting on their own lives.
Poetic yet profoundly affecting word by word, it’s a lyrical number that stirs the heart.
