![[New Year’s Songs] Timeless classics and popular New Year tunes you’ll want to listen to at the start of the year](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/IrSZfGR3FAs/sddefault.jpg)
[New Year’s Songs] Timeless classics and popular New Year tunes you’ll want to listen to at the start of the year
For New Year’s, you want to listen to songs that fit the season, right?
You might think of traditional pieces like “Haru no Umi,” but isn’t it surprisingly hard to find J-pop that feels perfect for New Year’s?
In fact, while there are tons of Christmas songs, there are relatively few songs for the New Year.
In this article, we’ll introduce lots of tracks you’ll want to play as the year begins, focusing mainly on J-pop!
Be sure to read to the end and soak up the New Year’s spirit!
Of course, we’ve also picked out the classic New Year’s staples!
[New Year’s Songs] Classic and Popular Tracks to Listen to at New Year (1–10)
the Twelve Zodiac Signs (the Chinese/Japanese zodiac)Jaa Baabonz
Songs that make it fun to learn the zodiac are perfect for New Year’s, aren’t they? The album “Challenger,” released by Jaabourbons in April 2020, includes a lively track that lets you sing, dance, and memorize the order of the twelve zodiac signs.
It runs through each animal in sequence—from the Rat as nezumi to the Ox as ushi—layering their sounds to the rhythm, so with onomatopoeia like “chū-chū,” “mō-mō,” and “gao-gao,” humming along with your kids will naturally fix the zodiac order in your mind.
Looking at New Year’s cards or otoshidama envelopes and asking, “I wonder what next year’s zodiac is?” while singing together as a family sounds like a great way to spend the holiday.
With harmonies from a three-vocal lineup hailing from Okinawa and an arrangement that invites handclaps, it’s a song everyone—young and old—can enjoy.
SHOW-GUTSOmede-tai atama de nani yori
Brimming with humor, this track gives a playful push to those spending New Year’s lazing around at home.
It’s one of the title songs from the double A-side single “SHOW-GUTS / Daruma-san wa Korobanai” released on January 1, 2017.
The lyrics—urging listeners to spend the first three days of the year with more spirit instead of lounging under the kotatsu eating mandarins—make you laugh while giving you a boost of energy.
Featuring witty lines that riff on traditional New Year’s shrine-visit etiquette and an intense loud-rock sound, it was also chosen as the opening theme for TV Kanagawa’s music program “Ongaku-kan” in January 2018.
It’s the perfect song for anyone who wants to kick off the New Year with rock-fueled excitement or wow the crowd at karaoke!
New Year’s DayELLEGARDEN
There are a lot of kids who will tell you that you can’t talk about youth without mentioning ELLEGARDEN.
Their song “New Year’s Day” is included on their third single, “Jitterbug,” released in 2003.
The title screams New Year vibes, but unlike traditional Japanese New Year songs, the lyrics are in English and have a rock edge.
Many people live away from their hometowns and go back for the New Year to meet up with friends, right? This is a perfect track for those folks—a song that brings back memories of youth, just right for the New Year.
O-SHO-GA-TSUONIGAWARA
A celebratory dance-pop track themed around the New Year by the SUPER J-POP unit ONIGAWARA.
Produced in December 2016 as a B-side, this uniquely playful song—its title written in Roman letters with interpuncts—overflows with the uplifting energy and brightness that bring smiles and ring in the new year.
With a four-on-the-floor beat layered with brass and handclaps, the arrangement radiates pure festival vibes.
It’s the perfect track for welcoming a brand-new year in high spirits—whether during the countdown, on your way home from your first shrine visit, or at a New Year’s party with friends!
A HAPPY NEW YEARMatsutōya Yumi
How about a love song that straightforwardly sings, “I want you to be the first person I see in the new year!”? It’s a track by singer-songwriter Yumi Matsutoya, who has produced numerous classics like “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” included on her 12th album, “Shabon Oai Shimashou” (Shall We Meet Last Night), released in 1981.
It was also used as an insert song in the film “Take Me Out to the Snowland.” Even though it’s a winter song, it conveys a wonderfully warm atmosphere—perhaps thanks to her gentle vocals.
this winterMakihara Noriyuki
Noriyuki Makihara’s serene ballad depicting winter gently weaves in the season’s atmosphere alongside the quiet happiness of everyday life.
Through distinctly wintry visual motifs—like the cold and white breaths—you feel a tender gaze that contemplates the closeness of lovers and the accumulation of time, which truly resonates.
Included on the album “PHARMACY,” released in October 1994, and later selected for the 1997 best-of compilation “SMILING II ~THE BEST OF NORIYUKI MAKIHARA~,” the song may not be flashy, but it has long been cherished as a beloved winter staple.
It’s the kind of track you’ll want to play softly on a quiet night before the New Year, while spending time with someone special.
The Bell of BeginningsUguisumaru Tomonari (CV: Shimizu Ayaka) Namazuo Toushirou (CV: Watada Misaki) Hotarumaru Kunitoshi (CV: Tachibana Meemu)
This is a character song that vividly colors the dawn of a new year.
It was released digitally by Pony Canyon in January 2021 and later included on the album “Hyakka Ryouran Vol.
3” in July of the same year.
The lyrics intertwine the sound of the New Year’s bell with inner resolve, capturing the exhilaration of straightening one’s back in festive attire and stepping forward into a new self.
Blending the crisp air of the season with a melody full of hope, this number is perfect for watching the first sunrise as you set your resolutions for the year.
The clear, translucent vocals of Ayaka Shimizu, Riho Sugiyama, and Mayuka Nomura gently deliver the sparkle of the New Year.