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: Classic Japanese tracks (21–30)
rainAoba Ichiko
As of 2017, an acoustic musician currently enjoying a hit.
You could also say they are a highly artistic performer, to the extent of collaborating with members of YMO.
Rather than conveying melancholy itself, the impression is more like breaking through after a rain of melancholy to a clear, lucid sky.
I thought about killing myselfNakajima Mika
One song by Mika Nakashima, who rose to fame in the 2000s, from 2013.
The lyrics evoke the idea of being hurt through people and being saved through people.
As one of the most popular singers, she will surely continue to thrive in the future.
G actRADWIMPS
“I just haven’t gotten serious yet” — this song sharply portrays a self who hides behind that excuse and can’t take action.
It’s a track by RADWIMPS, included on their 2011 album Zettai Zetsumei.
The title “G” evokes “masturbation,” but what’s depicted is a young person who keeps consoling themselves for failing to show their true ability.
The rapid-fire rap lyrics capture a complex mindset where bravado and self-loathing intertwine.
Because the drums were sped up in production, the song remained absent from live sets for a long time, but it was finally performed for the first time on their 2023 tour.
It’s bound to pierce the hearts of those who keep making excuses to themselves and those struggling with the gap between reality and their ideals.
seamUeno Daiki
When we confront the uncertainty of memory, how much anxiety do we carry? Written by Daiju Ueno for the drama “Unmet: A Neurosurgeon’s Diary,” this piece overlaps with the struggles of a protagonist living with memory impairment.
It features a mysterious sound marked by lingering strings, and Ueno says he “challenged a kind of topline melody I wouldn’t normally use.” The lyrics carefully trace the blurry borders of the memories we all possess, the unease toward time that has vanished, and the surges of emotion we long to reclaim.
When you want to reconnect your past self with who you are now, this song will quietly stay by your side.
YES～free flower～My Little Lover
A unit led by musician Takeshi Kobayashi that was explosively popular in the late ’90s.
This song should be easy to listen to, but if you keep playing it on a portable player on endless repeat, for some reason it makes you feel very depressed.
Please, give it a try.
HeavenMrs. GREEN APPLE
This is a deeply moving song written as the theme for the film “I Will Tell You the Truth,” starring vocalist Motoki Omori.
It begins in a sacred stillness, unfolds dramatically, and then ends abruptly—an unpredictable structure that defines the track.
The work portrays not only human beauty but equally the ugliness that lies behind it, seeming to reflect complex emotions such as despair and inner conflict in the face of an inescapable reality.
Released in May 2025, this song gently stays by your side and resonates deeply when you’re weighed down by helplessness or a sadness too difficult to put into words.
crimsonX JAPAN
Is there any Japanese adult who doesn’t know this song? It’s one of X JAPAN’s signature tracks, long used in high school baseball cheering.
Even today, it has a devoted fan base both in Japan and abroad, and it’s no exaggeration to say it has become a legend in the Japanese music scene.