[New Year’s Songs] Timeless classics and popular New Year tunes you’ll want to listen to at the start of the year

the Twelve Zodiac Signs (the Chinese/Japanese zodiac)Jaa Baabonz

Let's learn the 12 zodiac signs song! Let's sing and dance! / JaaBourBonz

Songs that make it fun to learn the zodiac are perfect for New Year’s, aren’t they? The album “Challenger,” released by Jaabourbons in April 2020, includes a lively track that lets you sing, dance, and memorize the order of the twelve zodiac signs.

It runs through each animal in sequence—from the Rat as nezumi to the Ox as ushi—layering their sounds to the rhythm, so with onomatopoeia like “chū-chū,” “mō-mō,” and “gao-gao,” humming along with your kids will naturally fix the zodiac order in your mind.

Looking at New Year’s cards or otoshidama envelopes and asking, “I wonder what next year’s zodiac is?” while singing together as a family sounds like a great way to spend the holiday.

With harmonies from a three-vocal lineup hailing from Okinawa and an arrangement that invites handclaps, it’s a song everyone—young and old—can enjoy.

SHOW-GUTSOmede-tai atama de nani yori

Omedetai Atama de Naniyori – “SHOW-GUTS” Music Video | “SHOW-GUTS”

Brimming with humor, this track gives a playful push to those spending New Year’s lazing around at home.

It’s one of the title songs from the double A-side single “SHOW-GUTS / Daruma-san wa Korobanai” released on January 1, 2017.

The lyrics—urging listeners to spend the first three days of the year with more spirit instead of lounging under the kotatsu eating mandarins—make you laugh while giving you a boost of energy.

Featuring witty lines that riff on traditional New Year’s shrine-visit etiquette and an intense loud-rock sound, it was also chosen as the opening theme for TV Kanagawa’s music program “Ongaku-kan” in January 2018.

It’s the perfect song for anyone who wants to kick off the New Year with rock-fueled excitement or wow the crowd at karaoke!

New Year’s DayELLEGARDEN

New Year’s Day

There are a lot of kids who will tell you that you can’t talk about youth without mentioning ELLEGARDEN.

Their song “New Year’s Day” is included on their third single, “Jitterbug,” released in 2003.

The title screams New Year vibes, but unlike traditional Japanese New Year songs, the lyrics are in English and have a rock edge.

Many people live away from their hometowns and go back for the New Year to meet up with friends, right? This is a perfect track for those folks—a song that brings back memories of youth, just right for the New Year.

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utatane

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O-SHO-GA-TSUONIGAWARA

O-SHO-GA-TSU

A celebratory dance-pop track themed around the New Year by the SUPER J-POP unit ONIGAWARA.

Produced in December 2016 as a B-side, this uniquely playful song—its title written in Roman letters with interpuncts—overflows with the uplifting energy and brightness that bring smiles and ring in the new year.

With a four-on-the-floor beat layered with brass and handclaps, the arrangement radiates pure festival vibes.

It’s the perfect track for welcoming a brand-new year in high spirits—whether during the countdown, on your way home from your first shrine visit, or at a New Year’s party with friends!

A HAPPY NEW YEARMatsutōya Yumi

Yumi Matsutoya – A HAPPY NEW YEAR (from “Japanese Love and Yuming.”)

How about a love song that straightforwardly sings, “I want you to be the first person I see in the new year!”? It’s a track by singer-songwriter Yumi Matsutoya, who has produced numerous classics like “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” included on her 12th album, “Shabon Oai Shimashou” (Shall We Meet Last Night), released in 1981.

It was also used as an insert song in the film “Take Me Out to the Snowland.” Even though it’s a winter song, it conveys a wonderfully warm atmosphere—perhaps thanks to her gentle vocals.

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Araki Jakkan

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this winterMakihara Noriyuki

Kotoshi No Fuyu (2012 Remaster)

Noriyuki Makihara’s serene ballad depicting winter gently weaves in the season’s atmosphere alongside the quiet happiness of everyday life.

Through distinctly wintry visual motifs—like the cold and white breaths—you feel a tender gaze that contemplates the closeness of lovers and the accumulation of time, which truly resonates.

Included on the album “PHARMACY,” released in October 1994, and later selected for the 1997 best-of compilation “SMILING II ~THE BEST OF NORIYUKI MAKIHARA~,” the song may not be flashy, but it has long been cherished as a beloved winter staple.

It’s the kind of track you’ll want to play softly on a quiet night before the New Year, while spending time with someone special.

first shrine visit of the New YearPort Town FM

Port Town FM – Hatsumode (Official Audio)

Released in March 2021 as the final track on the album “Jumble,” Port Town FM’s song is a heartfelt number that paints scenes where past and present intersect in a port town over the New Year holidays.

In a quiet winter city after the bustle of summer has faded, it recalls the days of receiving New Year’s money, while singing of reunions with old friends and the warmth of human connection.

The harmonies woven by the mixed male–female triple vocals align perfectly with the atmosphere of the first shrine visit of the year, gently delivering a message of renewal and fresh starts.

Its refreshing guitar-pop sound conveys even the humidity of the port and the feel of winter air, making it an ideal song for the very moment you welcome a new year.

Striking a fine balance between nostalgia and hope, this track is perfect for New Year’s spent with people you haven’t seen in a while on your trip home.

It’s also recommended for anyone wanting to begin the year with a refreshed heart!