[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’s Songs] Classic and Popular New Year Tunes to Enjoy (21–30)
New Year’s gift (money given to children)yunikōn
A Unicorn track that gently captures the New Year’s excitement.
It was included as the B-side to the single “Yuki ga Furu Machi,” released in December 1992, and its warm melody—imbued with a prayer for the new year—strikingly contrasts with the A-side’s year-end scenes.
The lyrics tenderly convey the New Year’s distinctive sacred atmosphere and the wish for a good year, evoking peaceful year-end and New Year imagery.
The refreshing arrangement, featuring a variety of instruments like accordion and banjo, feels wonderfully pleasant.
A HAPPY NEW YEARBase Ball Bear
A song by the rock band Base Ball Bear, included on their October 2021 album DIARY KEY.
Drawing on motifs of New Year’s visits to Meiji Shrine and the rising sun, it expresses heartfelt wishes for people’s happiness.
Its refreshing, buoyant band sound and Sekine’s gentle vocals are striking.
I think it’s the perfect number for spending time with someone special over the New Year holidays.
Let’s fill our hearts with hope for the coming year!
New Year’s gift (money given to children)UNICORN
Unicorn, the rock band led by Tamio Okuda, is a wonderful group with a great sense of humor.
Their New Year’s song “Otoshidama” is a super fun track that will make you happy right from the start of the year.
It also has a kind of lucky vibe, and I think it will brighten everyone’s New Year.
Grandma used to say—on the morning when a new year is born—magcafe at garden
The lyrics tell a story I heard from my grandmother: that during the New Year, a deity called Toshigami-sama comes to bring happiness.
The song also weaves in imagery of small children.
With its gentle performance and themes of grandmothers and little ones, it’s a heartwarming piece.
Rising SunEXILE
On New Year’s, we all want to watch the first sunrise and kick off the year with a fresh mindset, right? A song that perfectly fits that feeling is “Rising Sun,” released by EXILE in 2011 as their 37th single.
What’s more, the album containing this track, “EXILE JAPAN,” was released on January 1, 2012, making it truly the perfect song to mark a new beginning.
Even the title “Rising Sun” evokes the divine splendor of a sunrise! Soak up the power of this song and channel it into energy for the year ahead!
Tokyo Winter Session feat. Yuu Setoguchi, Natsuki Enomoto, Souta Mochizuki, Akari Hayasaka, Haruki Serizawa, Mio GoudaHONEY WORKS
A heart-fluttering love song about spending winter with someone you like.
It’s a collaboration between the creator unit HoneyWorks and a star-studded lineup of guest voice actors, released in 2017.
As part of the mixed-media project titled “Confession Executive Committee: Love Series,” it was used as the ending theme for the anime “Our Love Has Always Been 10 Centimeters Apart.” Its dialogue-style lyrics will have you grinning without realizing it—especially relatable for junior and senior high school students.
Definitely give it a listen as a couple.
Winter’s hype-uppy bakkon!iginari touhoku san
This winter party song delivered from Tohoku features rap themed around wintry staples like snow and mochi—definitely the highlight.
Its high-energy, upbeat lyrics are packed with positive messages that make you forget the cold! Included on the first album “Tohoku Inbound,” released in March 2020, the track also charms with local references like the SENDAI Pageant of Starlight and Sanriku oysters.
It’s a lively tune that makes you want to head outside and have fun even in the cold winter—perfect for getting everyone hyped together right after the New Year.