[Setsuna-kei] Incredibly tear-jerking! Classic heartbreaking J-pop songs
“Setsuna”-style J-POP.
Those wistful lyrics and melodies really make your chest tighten, don’t they?
Starting with Thelma Aoyama’s “Soba ni Iru ne,” this style was characterized by R&B-like love songs that were especially popular from the late 2000s to the mid-2010s.
If you’re from the “chaku-uta” generation (when people downloaded song snippets as ringtones), this might feel nostalgic.
As social media became widely adopted, the style evolved—lyric videos have become a staple, and it feels like there are now more angles from which people can find relatable points.
Here, I’ll carefully select and introduce some nostalgic hits that were popular back then, as well as modern “setsuna” songs!
There are plenty of tracks that speak the feelings you can’t put into words, songs that stay by your side, and songs you can’t help but get completely absorbed in.
I hope you’ll use this as a list to discover new, heart-piercingly bittersweet masterpieces.
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[Setsuna-kei] So moving it’ll make you cry! Classic melancholic J-POP masterpieces (1–10)
I miss you…YU-A
YU-A’s “Aitai…” is a song about a painful, lonely breakup with someone you truly love.
Released in 2009, it was her solo debut single.
It portrays a relationship that shifts from sweet, happy times to gradual change, and finally to separation.
Even after breaking up, the narrator longs, aches, and desperately wants to find a way to meet again and stay by their side.
It depicts the raw pain and suffering of parting with someone precious.
For those going through a similar breakup, this song stays close to your feelings and offers comfort and healing.
Mikan HeartC&K
A heartrending ballad about an unattainable love, C&K’s “Mikan Heart.” Released in 2013, its music video features Haruma Miura.
CLIEVY’s beautiful high-tone voice amplifies the sorrow of the lyrics and tightens your chest.
Knowing that the person you love has someone else important, you resolve to give up on this love—yet every time you do, your feelings only grow stronger.
Many people have probably felt the same way.
If you’re in a similar kind of love, this song will empathize with your feelings and gently stay by your side.
tobacco / cigarette(s)Koresawa
They say scents and smells are deeply tied to human memory.
“Tabako” (Cigarettes) by singer-songwriter Koresawa is a heartbreak song that lingers on a former lover and the cigarettes he left behind.
After a breakup, the thought “If only I had done this…” almost inevitably wells up.
Catching the smell of the cigarettes he used to smoke makes those feelings surge all at once.
It’s a poignant song that pours out irrepressible regret in down-to-earth words.
[Setsuna-kei] Tearjerking! Classic Heart-wrenching J-POP Songs (11–20)
summer stormJenīhai
Jenny High is an extraordinary superband born from BS SkyPerfecTV!’s show “BAZOOKA!!!”.
Natsuarashi is a pre-release track included on their second album, Jenny Star, released in 2021—a number packed with the bittersweet sadness and burning passion of summer.
Even while sensing a vague uneasiness, there are things you want to hold onto precisely because it’s summer vacation.
The message that stays close to this fleeting, here-and-now moment becomes deeply relatable.
With a graceful yet refreshing melody that captures the ache of summer slipping away, it feels like a new kind of ‘setsuna-kei’ song—one where impulses brimming with anticipation and hope flare up.
Dried flowersYuuri
Dry Flower was a massive hit in 2021.
It’s a song released by the singer-songwriter Yuuri.
Although the two people fell in love and started dating, their hearts began to drift apart as time passed.
The song portrays the subtle emotions they feel after ultimately choosing to break up.
In the first and second verses, the perspective shifts between the woman’s and the man’s viewpoints.
It’s a song that makes you empathize with both sides.
It captures the tangled mix of dislike and lingering love one feels toward an ex after a breakup.
Love ForeverKatō Miriya × Shimizu Shōta
When it comes to heart-wrenching songs, you can’t leave out “Love Forever”! It’s a love song that defined the era of ringtone downloads, a popular duet by the golden duo Miliyah Kato and Shota Shimizu.
For those who remember that time, it’s nostalgic, and some may have discovered it through the cover by Eito and yama.
The chorus melody is unbelievably beautiful—just the best—and the aching sadness squeezes your heart.
In the latter half, the highlight where their harmonies blend is incredibly moving.
Even on days when nothing goes right and you can’t see the future, meeting someone you truly love can change your world—that’s the wonder this song conveys.
With lyrics full of those feelings, it’s a masterpiece that stirs both the sorrow of an ending and deep gratitude for someone precious.
Never again…BENI
Even though I loved them so much, my chest aches with the pain of knowing we can’t meet anymore—BENI’s “Mou Nidoto…”.
Released in 2008, this song is an answer track to “Mou Ichido… feat.
BENI,” a collaboration with Dohzi-T.
Listening to both songs, you can tell that both the man and the woman still have feelings for each other.
Yet, after a small misunderstanding leads to their breakup, they decide to walk separate paths, saying, “We won’t see each other again.” It’s a heartbreak that hurts all the more because they still love each other—one that brings tears you can’t hold back.