[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] Masterpieces and Popular New Year Tunes to Hear in the New Year (41–50)
Kuroda-bushi
The Kurodabushi is a folk song handed down in Fukuoka City, Fukuoka Prefecture, and because its lyrics encourage drinking, it is often sung at banquets.
It is said to have been composed based on a rather pitiable anecdote: when the warlord Kuroda Nagamasa visited fellow warlord Fukushima Masanori during the Edo period, he got carried away while drunk and handed over something he had never intended to give.
Even when he later asked for it back, it was not returned.
New Year’s gatherings, where you drink and get excited with people you don’t usually see, make it easy to get carried away.
Please be careful not to lose something important like in this song.
CalendarDXTEEN
A heartwarming pop tune that sings of the joy and hope of welcoming the New Year.
It’s a song by DXTEEN, released in December 2023.
It was chosen as the ending theme for the variety show “Kayo wa Zenryoku! Hanadai-san to Chidori-kun” from January to March.
While looking back on memories of the past year, its forward-looking stance—filled with wishes for the year ahead—leaves a strong impression.
Listen with someone special and celebrate the start of a new year together!
Doraemon New YearOoyama Nobuyo
A dreamy song that blasts off into space with a New Year setting! Released in October 1990, this piece was created as an image song for the anime Doraemon.
It was also included in the album “TV Anime Broadcast 40th Anniversary Doraemon: Song Collection,” released in June 2019, and has been beloved for many years.
It’s perfect for those who want to enjoy a New Year’s mood with their children.
Singing it together at karaoke is highly recommended!
New Year (Japanese New Year)Koumoto Hiroto
All of Hiroto Kōmoto’s songs have a wonderful human touch to them; their utterly honest, straightforward lyrics somehow bring me to tears.
The song “Oshōgatsu” is exactly one of those numbers.
How you feel when you listen to it will differ from person to person, and I don’t think there’s any single correct answer.
Please listen with fresh ears!
Happy New YearChatto Monchī
Chatmonchy, who sadly disbanded in 2018, had a song called “Kinga Shinnen,” which, as the title suggests, is a New Year’s song.
It’s included on their 2011 album YOU MORE.
Although it’s a New Year’s song, it’s a cute love song sung from a woman’s perspective, weaving in the New Year theme.
It’s sweet, but also a bit serious and bittersweet as it contemplates the future of the two, packed with those relatable feelings in love that make you think, “so true.”
Etenraku
Etenraku, considered one of the classics of Japanese traditional music known as gagaku, is perhaps the most famous piece.
You often hear it when visiting a shrine for New Year’s prayers, and just listening to it conjures up the feeling of the New Year, doesn’t it? The piece is said to have originally been used in important ceremonies in China and was brought to Japan around the Nara period.
Its distinctive, flute-like timbre spreads expansively, evoking a sense of the divine.
This coming New Year, while you’re out for your first shrine visit, try focusing on the music as well, and savor the New Year atmosphere more than ever.
It’s the dawn of Japan!mowamowa P
It’s a New Year’s song made with VOCALOID.
Created by a VocaloP known for a pop style, it was released on January 1, 2013.
The bright, march-like rhythm makes it fun and uplifting.
As the title suggests, the lyrics about Japan’s dawn are positive, and you’ll feel energized as you listen.
Hatsune Miku’s cute voice has a slightly goofy charm that’s wonderful, too.
Perfect for those moments when you want to think, “I’m going to give it my all this year!” or “I’m going to achieve my goals!”
