[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!
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[New Year Songs] Classic and Popular New Year Tunes to Listen to in the New Year (61–70)
JANUARYŌe Senri
Not only a singer-songwriter but also active as an actor, Senri Oe created the classic “JANUARY,” a song about the first month of the year.
It’s included on Chibusa, his fourth album, released in 1985.
This love song savors the happiness found in everyday life and carries the message, “Let’s spend this year together, too.” His gentle, mellow vocals warm the chill of January.
Put it on with someone you hope to keep growing older with, and let it usher in a wonderful start to the year.
HAPPY NEW YEARShirai Takako
“HAPPY NEW YEAR,” a song about welcoming the New Year with someone special, is a number by singer-songwriter Takako Shirai, who was known as the “Queen of Rock” in the 1980s.
This short track, about two minutes long, was included on the Christmas-themed mini-album ‘PRINCESS NIGHT,’ released in 1985.
Accompanied by acoustic piano, her gentle yet powerful vocals—befitting the “Queen of Rock”—draw you in as you listen.
Be sure to play it as you ring in the New Year with your partner or family.
Hand game of rice-cake pounding
Even if the grown-ups get worn out from year-end and New Year outings, kids are still full of energy! At times like that, teach them a New Year-themed hand game about mochi pounding that they can enjoy at home.
Stand facing each other: one person keeps the rhythm by clapping their hands in big, vertical motions.
The other slips their hands in between when the hands open, pretends to knead the mochi, and adds playful interjections—being careful not to touch the other person’s hands.
While you’re playing, they might end up begging, “I want to do real mochi pounding!”
Song of the Seven Herbs
Do you know the names of the seven herbs of spring? Seri (Japanese parsley), Nazuna (shepherd’s purse), Gogyo (cudweed), Hakobera (chickweed), Hotokenoza (nipplewort), Suzuna (turnip), and Suzushiro (daikon radish).
There is a custom and tradition of eating these seven herbs as nanakusa-gayu (seven-herb rice porridge) on the morning of January 6 after welcoming the New Year.
While cooking, people lightly tap the herbs finely with the back of a knife on a cutting board and sing the folk and children’s song “Nanakusa-bayashi.” Eating nanakusa-gayu is believed to ward off illness and misfortune.
“Nanakusa-bayashi” carries the wish that the New Year’s season will be spent in safety and good health.
Try singing it with your children when you make nanakusa-gayu together.
The Song of the Twelve Zodiac AnimalsYoshida Michiko
The song “Jūnishi no Uta,” performed on the children’s TV program Hirake! Ponkikki, is a fun, pop tune that helps kids learn the twelve zodiac animals in a rhythmic, rap-like style.
Rather than chanting “ne, ushi, tora, u, tatsu, mi” like a spell, humming the lyrics along with the melody should be easier for children to remember.
Show them the animals drawn on small gift envelopes or New Year’s cards and ask questions like, “This year’s zodiac is the ox—what will it be next year?” Let them learn the order of the zodiac along with the song.
The Kite Song
Despite containing no words directly related to the New Year in its lyrics, “Tako no Uta” (The Kite Song), which depicts the traditional New Year’s pastime of kite flying, is a beloved children’s song that many people associate with the year-end and New Year season.
First published in 1910 in the “Jinjō Shōgaku Tokuhon Shōka” (Elementary School Reader Songs), it has been sung by countless children ever since.
The kite soars so high it seems it might reach the clouds.
Listening to this song, many people may find childhood memories of enjoying kite flying coming back to them.
NEW YEAR’S DAYtha BOSS feat. Hannya
NEW YEAR’S DAY is a collaboration between BOSS THE MC from the Hokkaido-born hip-hop group THA BLUE HERB and rapper Hannya.
As the year draws to a close, there’s always that moment when you look back and wonder what kind of year it was for you.
This track is perfect for those times of self-reflection.
When you look back on the year, all kinds of feelings surface—regret, anxiety about not having changed—but this work sets a resolve to reset and welcome a new year to a nimble, catchy rap.