Bittersweet feelings come rushing back! Recommended love songs for the Yutori generation

SAKURA DropsUtada Hikaru

Hikaru Utada – SAKURA Drops

A signature song by Hikaru Utada, released in May 2002, that intertwines the season of falling cherry blossoms with the tremors of the heart.

Issued as a double A-side single with “Letters,” it was also used as the theme song for the TBS drama First Love.

The lyrics, which entrust the feelings of a lost love—and the inevitability of falling for someone new—to the coming of spring and the farewells it brings, resonate deeply.

With a delicate mid-tempo beat and Utada’s translucent vocals, the track carries both sadness and hope.

It’s a song you’ll want to hear as graduation and parting season arrives, or on a spring day when you find yourself reminiscing about a past love.

MetronomeYonezu Kenshi

Kenshi Yonezu – Metronome

A song that overlays the gradual misalignment of two people’s relationship with an instrument keeping a steady rhythm, conveying a poignant sense of missed connections that tugs at the heart.

Included on the 2015 album “Bremen,” this track powerfully conveys the helplessness of starting in the same tempo only to drift apart over time, as well as the lingering attachment that makes you keep searching for the other person even after you’ve parted.

The animated music video—hand-drawn by Kenshi Yonezu himself with about 200 illustrations—visually deepens the song’s world and leaves a strong impression.

For anyone with an unforgettable love or who has experienced growing apart from someone dear, this is a sorrowful yet beautiful ballad that resonates deeply.

User ManualNishino Kana

Kana Nishino “Torisetsu” MV Full

Kana Nishino’s 27th single, used as the theme song for the film “No Longer Heroine,” released in September 2015.

Its unique lyrics, which liken a woman’s delicate emotions to an instruction manual, became a hot topic and won the Grand Prize at the 57th Japan Record Awards.

The lyrics, where she introduces herself through the metaphor of a user manual, are both chuckle-worthy and heart-fluttering just by listening.

The song is included on her 6th album, “Just LOVE,” and has become a wedding staple.

It’s a perfect love song not only for those with a crush or in a relationship, but also for when you want to convey your feelings to your partner.

Promise in Madder Redikimonogakari

Ikimonogakari 'Akane-iro no Yakusoku' Music Video

Written and composed by Yoshiki Mizuno, this song deliberately uses the word “farewell” to express the vow “until death do us part,” carefully weaving feelings that we want to cherish precisely because our time is limited.

Kiyoe Yoshioka’s translucent vocals intertwined with warm strings evoke the poignancy of an autumn dusk.

Released in October 2007 as their seventh single, it was featured in au’s “LISMO!” commercial and served as the ending theme for tvk’s “saku saku.” It’s a perfect track for long autumn nights, one that makes you want to listen while reminiscing about your school days.

red-yellow fragrant olive (Osmanthus fragrans)Fujifaburikku

Fujifabric – Red-Yellow Osmanthus

That flutter in the chest at dusk in autumn, stirred by the elusive scent of fragrant olive drifting from who knows where.

Released in September 2004 as the autumn installment of Fuji Fabric’s Four Seasons series, this song delicately captures the moment when an invisible thing like a scent awakens memory.

From the opening guitar arpeggios, a lyrical mood wafts in as if the very air of autumn had been turned into sound, unfolding a lyrical world where impatience with the passage of time intersects with resignation toward fading memories.

Masahiko Shimura’s expressive power in portraying the subtle wavering of a heart that can’t fully give in to sentimentality is breathtaking.

Also included on their major-label debut album “Fujifabric,” it’s cherished as a staple that gets airplay on the radio every fall.

It’s a track you’ll want to savor on a long autumn night, recalling your walk home from school days.

C.O.S.M.O.S. ~Cosmos (Autumn Cherry Blossoms)~Sandaime Jē Sōru Burazāzu fromu Eguzairu Toraibu

Sandaime J SOUL BROTHERS from EXILE TRIBE / “C.O.S.M.O.S. ~Autumn Cherry Blossoms~” Music Video

For those seeking a ballad that evokes a mellow mood as the feeling of autumn deepens, we recommend an autumn song by Sandaime J Soul Brothers from EXILE TRIBE.

Released in October 2014, this work was produced as the third installment in their four-seasons series.

Centered on the theme of a forbidden love, it portrays a poignant world where unfulfilled feelings are likened to autumn cosmos flowers.

The song was also featured in commercials for the jewelry brand Samantha Tiara and for Huis Ten Bosch.

Ryuuji Imaichi’s delicate vocals carefully weave each word as if speaking directly to the listener, resonating deeply in the heart.

It’s the perfect track for when you want to immerse yourself in the complex emotions of love that you can truly understand only now as an adult, while recalling autumn nights spent with friends during your school days.

Love WindIkuta Rira

Lila Ikuta “Koikaze” Official Music Video

This song gently wraps around a heart that’s become timid about love, like a spring breeze.

It carefully depicts the protagonist, who carries past wounds, meeting someone who looks at them with unwavering eyes and slowly trying to move forward.

The moment when the wish for love to be simpler intersects with the courage to take a step anyway is achingly poignant, and as you listen, it resonates with your own feelings of love.

Lila Ikuta’s clear, translucent voice delicately conveys these wavering emotions and truly strikes a chord.

Released in April 2025, it was chosen as the theme song for ABEMA’s dating reality show “Kyo, Suki ni Narimashita.

New Zealand Edition.” This marks the third time Lila Ikuta has provided a theme song for the series, following “Romance no Yakusoku” and “Sparkle.” It’s a song you’ll want to listen to when you don’t quite have the courage to start a new romance, or when you’re feeling your heart race over a new encounter.