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
Songs that hit hard when you're feeling blue: Classic J‑Pop gems (41–50)
Anytime smokin’ cigaretteglobe
A song from one of the three-member units produced by Tetsuya Komuro (TK) that dominated the Japanese music scene in the ’90s.
It’s not exactly a bright track, but you can clearly feel the determination of a woman striving to live strongly in the lyrics.
It’s one of globe’s relatively calm masterpieces.
New WorldThe Back Horn
From THE BACK HORN’s albums prior to their 1st album.
If you listen closely to the lyrics, I think you’ll notice a powerful sense of standing up and trying to grasp something out of despair.
Their 1st album, “Ningen Program,” is also recommended.
A water tank without waterYamazaki Masayoshi
A song with a melancholic atmosphere and a distinctive melody line that makes you feel as if you’re with your lover inside a “waterless aquarium.” It’s neither joyful nor painful—like being in a drowsy haze where the lines between light and darkness blur.
It should be a little better when the moon gets closer.ASKA
It’s a bit old, but here’s a song from ASKA’s album “NEVER END.” Even within its melancholy, the lyrics and melody convey a serious masculinity and a sense of artistry.
Like Chihiro Onitsuka’s “Gekkou” (Moonlight), it’s definitely one of those tracks you’ll want to listen to at night.
hydrangeaPEOPLE 1
A poignant ballad you’ll want to listen to on a rainy day.
This song, performed by PEOPLE 1, is a masterpiece in which vocalist Ito’s richly expressive voice gently sinks into your heart.
Released in June 2022, it colored the drama Kanakana’s most heartrending scenes as an insert song.
It was later included on the album Hoshimeguri, Kimi ni Kinsei.
The lyrics, which liken shifting romantic feelings to the seasons and hydrangeas, are lyrical and squeeze your heart even just to read them.
Everyday lifeOfisharu Higedan Dism
In the days that pass as a matter of course, there are moments when anyone might suddenly feel, “I dread tomorrow.” This song by Official HIGE DANDism, a driving force in the J-pop scene, gently stays close to those restless feelings.
The lyrics portray the heart’s cries worn down by work and relationships, and a quiet despair toward things that can’t be changed.
Yet what makes this piece so affecting is that it isn’t merely dark.
Its calm, warm sound brings into focus the subtle kindnesses in everyday life and the fleeting moments of salvation, tightening the chest all the more.
Released in September 2023 as a double A-side single with “Chessboard,” it was written as the theme song for Nippon TV’s “news zero.” On nights when you can’t help but feel unbearably sad, why not sink into a sentimental moment with this song?
to clear up (weather)Yorushika
A refreshing song that evokes the arrival of spring, it impresses with n-buna’s masterful word choice and suis’s transparent vocals weaving a richly emotional world.
By depicting the shift in the sky from rain to clear weather, it symbolically expresses the joys and pains of life, as well as hope and despair, making it a track you’ll want to listen to at the change of seasons.
This work was used as the opening theme for the second cour of the TV anime Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End, which began airing in January 2024, and it was also featured in a collaborative web commercial with Suntory’s gin SUI.
Released as a digital single, this song will be a reliable companion when you need a mindset reset or are about to take a new step forward.