[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)
A Boring New Yearsutoraiku kanpanī
Strike Company, a music duo from Ishigaki Island in Okinawa Prefecture, presents a New Year’s song for grown-ups: “Boring New Year.” As kids, New Year’s was full of fun—being surrounded by relatives we rarely saw, getting New Year’s money, and making memories.
But as we get older, the otoshidama stops, we don’t always go back home, and somehow the holiday starts to feel a bit dull.
For anyone who relates, this track will resonate deeply.
Even while calling it boring, it leaves you with a warm, oddly comforting feeling of “Well, I guess that’s how it is.”
[New Year’s Songs] Classic and Popular Tracks to Hear in the New Year (51–60)
Rokudan no ShirabeYatsuhashi Kengyō
Rokudan no Shirabe is a signature koto piece said to have been composed by Yatsuhashi Kengyō, a blind musician hailed as the father of modern koto music.
Because it’s played somewhere every New Year—on TV programs and commercials, or as background music in shopping malls—many people probably think of the New Year the moment they hear it.
It’s also used as a listening resource in schools, making it a classic that virtually every Japanese person has heard at least once.
While it’s great to gear up and tackle New Year’s sales, it might be nice once in a while to spend a leisurely New Year listening to traditional koto music.
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!
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!
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.
