A poignant ballad song. A tear-jerking masterpiece of Japanese pop music.
Let me introduce some heartrending ballads that tighten your chest the moment you listen.
When you part ways with someone important, when a romance fails and leaves you down, or when a sudden memory takes you back to a past you can’t return to…
In the course of life, there are moments when a quiet, melancholy mood washes over you.
In this article, I’ve gathered recommended ballad songs for those very times.
From beloved classics to recent hits, I’ve selected tracks so you can find a song that resonates with your feelings and helps you detox your heart.
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A heartrending ballad song. Classic tear-jerking Japanese hits (71–80)
I want to be loved.Mioyamazaki
On nights when you’re overwhelmed by an inescapable loneliness and simply wish to be loved, the ballad by the rock band MIOYAMAZAKI is there to keep you company.
This song lays bare a desperate cry to have someone acknowledge the weaknesses hidden deep within your heart and your true, unadorned self, delivered through vocals that sound as if they’re carved from the soul.
Included as the final track on the masterful album “choice,” released in October 2017, it also drew attention for its music video featuring then-popular adult actress Kirara Asuka.
The visuals, portraying her inner conflict, deepen the song’s poignant worldview.
If anyone reading this feels their chest about to burst from unspoken anxieties, this track will surely wrap your heart in gentle warmth.
Bloom like a rose, fall like a cherry blossom.Matsuda Seiko
Speaking of Seiko Matsuda, she produced numerous hit songs during her idol years.
As for a masterpiece from her later period, it would have to be “Bloom Like a Rose, Fall Like a Cherry Blossom.” It’s a ballad filled with a mature charm that differs from her earlier days.
I want to forget.wacci
The harder you try to forget an ex, the more they come to mind… Have you ever had that bittersweet experience? wacci’s “Wasuretai” (“I Want to Forget”) is a ballad that captures that very frustrating inner struggle.
Even when you’re with someone new, you find yourself searching for traces of the one you parted with in their warmth, leaving your heart unfulfilled.
The protagonist’s pain is truly heart-wrenching.
It’s a song you should listen to when you’re suffering and can’t break free from a past love.
roomshaitoopu
This is a rock ballad that portrays someone spending the night alone in their room, thinking about an ex.
Released in June 2022 by Shytope, a three-piece band from Kyoto, the song was later included on the album Hors d’oeuvre.
Because Sō Sasaki, who wrote both the lyrics and music, drew from his own heartbreak, the raw, regret-laden words are deeply affecting.
On nights when unattainable wishes circle in your mind, listening to this track might move you to tears.
Night journeyYorushika
On quiet nights, memories of days gone by sometimes drift through your mind, don’t they? There’s a song by Yorushika that gently stays by your side in those wistful moments.
Conjuring scenes like swaying on a night train, the track depicts an inner journey of facing forward even while carrying past pain and farewells.
Suis’s clear, translucent voice conveys the stillness and solitude of the night—and the faint hope beyond—seeping deeply into the heart.
Released in March 2020, the song was featured as an insert track in the animated feature film “A Whisker Away.” Why not give it a listen when you want to take your time and sit with the sorrow of heartbreak?
First LoveUtada Hikaru
This is one of Hikaru Utada’s signature ballads, a song about the end of an unforgettable love.
Released in April 1999 as a single from her album, it became a major sensation as the theme song for the drama “Majo no Jōken,” which portrays a romance between a teacher and a student.
The opening scene—beginning with the bitter, heartrending scent of a cigarette from a farewell kiss—is strikingly vivid, almost unbelievable for something written by her at just sixteen.
Even if you fall in love with someone else, your first love remains special in your heart, and the message that you learned how to love from that relationship transforms the pain of heartbreak into beautiful hope.
A perfect listen for nights when you want to linger in bittersweet memories.
for a whilerikon densetsu
A ballad that gently nestles up to memories of lost love.
The music unit Divorce Densetsu released it in January 2025.
While lamenting a past that can never return, the song portrays the aching sway of trying to forget someone dear.
Vocalist Matsuda’s sweet, mellow voice rides atop a nostalgic sound reminiscent of ’80s New Music, soaking into the heart.
A healing track that wraps you in sentimental emotion.