[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)
YOUNG BLOODSSano Motoharu
When the New Year arrives, don’t you feel like resetting your mind to a clean slate? That’s when I want you to listen to Motoharu Sano’s song “YOUNG BLOODS.” Even as the years go by, it gives you a youthful, energetic boost.
If you feel like this year just didn’t go well, you can say goodbye to that murkiness and welcome the New Year with a clear, refreshed heart.
Let’s charge into the next year with fresh resolve!
[New Year’s Songs] Classic and Popular Tracks to Hear in the New Year (51–60)
Happy New Yearide ayaka
Here is singer-songwriter Aya Iida’s New Year’s song, “Happy New Year”! The title overflows with the feeling of celebrating the start of a new year.
Welcoming the holiday with someone you love, looking back on the happy memories of the past year, and wanting to start fresh with a “let’s make it another good one this year,” right? This heartwarming ballad captures those feelings, along with a message of continuing to spend each year together—next year, and the year after that.
Give it a listen as you ring in the new year with someone special.
lukewarm beerSuga Shikao
From the title “Lukewarm Beer,” it’s a bit hard to picture New Year’s, but this is a song by Shikao Suga.
The track is included on his 25th single, “Party People,” released in 2009.
A look at the lyrics makes it clear—right from the start, the word “New Year” appears.
Many people probably head back to their hometowns around the holidays to attend reunions or get-togethers with friends, right? This is a New Year’s song packed with those indescribable feelings that come with such familiar scenes.
Spring SeaMiyagi Michio
This piece envelops you in the same warm tones year after year, and it’s no exaggeration to say you hear it everywhere during the New Year season: “Haru no Umi” (The Sea in Spring).
Whether you’re visiting a shrine for the first prayer of the year or browsing the department store food halls lined with osechi dishes, it’s playing wherever you go.
It’s said that the composer created it with the image of the Seto Inland Sea, traveled by ship on the way to Tokyo.
Perfectly capturing the feeling of “the New Year,” this work makes an ideal soundtrack for time with family—add it as your New Year’s BGM and it will heighten the festive mood even more than usual!
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.”
Song of the PloversYoshizawa Kengyō
Chidori no Kyoku is a koto piece composed by Kengyo Yoshizawa.
Alongside Rokudan no Shirabe and Haru no Umi, it is regarded as a work that greatly influenced koto music from the Meiji era onward.
Its lyrics notably quote poems about plovers from the Kokin Wakashu and the Kinyo Wakashu.
Because it features the traditional instrument koto, it’s often used as background music in contexts meant to evoke a Japanese aesthetic.
While its relaxed atmosphere may invite casual listening, the koto techniques are a key element of the piece; listening through the entire work can reveal new charms.
