[2026] A summer song that tightens your chest with bittersweet feelings. A classic summer tune that touches the heart.

SetsukaYamamoto Aya

Sayaka Yamamoto “Setsunatsu” Music Video

This is a work released in July 2025 by singer-songwriter Sayaka Yamamoto, created around the theme of “summer” for the first time in her career.

After enjoying enormous popularity as the first captain of NMB48, Yamamoto has steadily forged her path as a solo artist.

For this track, she reunited with producer Seiji Kameda for the first time in six years.

From the acoustic guitar intro, the light, buoyant band sound vividly captures the sparkle of summer and the fleeting pangs of melancholy.

The tenderness we feel for the passing seasons unfurls before your eyes like a road movie.

It’s a song that stays with you in those moments when you want to sink into memories with a touch of sentimentality.

Drowning in summerBocchi

Bocchi – Drowning in Summer [Official Music Video]

Do you have any wonderful summer memories? Every now and then, you might find yourself getting nostalgic and a little sentimental.

That’s why I recommend “Drowning in Summer.” It’s a track released by the rock band Bocchi and, as the title song of their first EP, it drew a lot of attention.

In the song, the lyrics look back on beautiful summer memories and express a desire to turn back time.

Give it a listen, and let it help you recall your own beautiful summer days.

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yamamoto

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July 7, sunnyDREAMS COME TRUE

DREAMS COME TRUE “July 7th, Clear Skies”

This song was created as the theme for the 1996 film “July 7th, Clear Skies,” starring Masato Hagiwara and Alisa Mizuki.

July 7th is Tanabata, the day when Hikoboshi and Orihime are said to be able to meet only once a year.

The lyrics, which echo that story, convey the aching, painful longing to see the one you love.

It’s a track that people in long-distance relationships or those with unrequited feelings will surely relate to—and perhaps even be moved to tears.

That kind of love that hurts because it’s so strong is something people of any generation can understand, even if they aren’t in love right now.

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utatane

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Sound of SummerGReeeeN

GReeeeN – Summer Sound

GReeeeN is a four-member vocal group that mixes rap into melodies with exquisite choral work, creating pop and stylish tracks, and despite keeping their appearance private, they’ve garnered massive support.

Their 10th digital-only single, Natsu no Ne, used as the campaign song for Kirin’s Namacha, is a number that evokes summer scenery from an intro with a distinctly Japanese feel.

The lyrics link unrequited feelings with fireworks, filling the song with the atmosphere of summer—hot yet tinged with bittersweetness.

It’s an emotional pop tune that awakens the sweet-and-sour memories almost everyone experienced in their youth.

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Hoshino Takashi

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Ice Cream SyndromeSukima Suichi

Sukima Switch – “Ice Cream Syndrome” (Short ver.)

Sukima Switch’s “Ice Cream Syndrome” is a poignant song about two people whose emotional distance never seems to shrink.

Released as a single in 2010, it was chosen as the theme song for the film Pokémon: Diamond & Pearl the Movie – Zoroark: Master of Illusions and reached No.

6 on the Oricon singles chart.

The title captures that summery feeling, depicting how the ice cream melts while the singer dithers and can’t bring themselves to confess.

It was also ranked 7th in a 2012 fan poll, so definitely give it a listen!

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Hamada Takuya

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I miss you.UVERworld

UVERworld 'Yearning for You'

A UVERworld track that opens with a piano-and-strings intro that perfectly captures the word “setsunai” — that bittersweet ache.

The lyrics portray someone who, even now, longs for and cherishes the lover they left behind to chase their dream.

There aren’t any details that confine it to a specific season, but when you imagine them being apart even in summer — a time when you could make so many memories — it becomes all the more heartrending.

They must love the other so much they can’t forget them, and they’d surely want to make lots of summer memories together, yet they still put their dream first.

You can say it was unavoidable, but there’s a lingering haze that remains.

Recommended for those spending a summer like that.

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SAKI

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KissHugaiko

aiko- 『KissHug』music video

When it comes to Aiko’s summer songs, this one has to be the pick! The opening line of the chorus is truly brilliant—probably a coined phrase she came up with while writing the lyrics—and it lets each listener picture their own summery scene.

Throughout the song, it portrays the emotions of a woman reminiscing about a past love.

Reading the lyrics, it seems she still hasn’t been able to let go.

It’s a perfect track for anyone who can’t forget a love from summers past.

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Hane Keisuke

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