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

BoyhoodInoue Yosui

Boyhood – Yosui Inoue (Full)

With its lush greenery, blue skies, and fireworks that evoke quintessential summer scenes, this song is one of Yosui Inoue’s signature works and is widely loved as a summertime tune.

Reading the lyrics, it may not exactly convey sadness, but there’s a certain nostalgia—of dreams and memories—along with a gentle piano accompaniment reminiscent of the Beatles, that really tugs at the heartstrings, don’t you think? By the way, the meaning of the phrase “kaze azami” often comes up in discussions; it seems to be a coined term, allowing listeners to give it their own meanings and enjoy it in their own ways.

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Hane Keisuke

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Summer NudeToki Asako

Asako Toki “Summer Nude”

When it comes to summer songs with a touch of classic or jazz flair, ‘Summer Nude’ is the one.

Toki’s intimate, conversational whisper voice has a bossa-nova feel and suits the track perfectly.

The lyrics evoke a summer romance in a holiday resort—there’s a certain mature composure to them, making it something like “adult youth,” if you will.

It’s a song that makes you feel like falling in love.

If you like Eiichi Ohtaki’s music, you absolutely have to give this a listen.

It might also be fun to compare it with Magokoro Brothers’ single ‘Summer Nude,’ which shares the same title but is a completely different type of song!

Let me hear the poetry of the wind.Kuwata Keisuke

Keisuke Kuwata – Let Me Hear the Poem of the Wind (Short ver.)

When you think of summer, many people immediately think of Southern All Stars! This song, however, is a solo number by the band’s vocalist, Keisuke Kuwata.

Featuring a refreshing, summery melody, it was used as the theme song for the film “Life: Tengoku de Kimi ni Aetara,” starring Takao Osawa.

While Southern All Stars and Kuwata are often associated with fiery, high-energy summer anthems, this track is a bittersweet summer song that overlaps the end of summer with the end of life.

Why does the end of summer make us feel so melancholic? Summer is a season when we make countless happy memories, and life, too, ends surrounded by many memories.

Set to a melody full of summer vibes, the song lets you feel both of those tender sadnesses.

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SAKI

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Fireworks in Augustmurasaki ima

Fireworks in August

It’s an emotionally rich ballad that gently stays by your side through that indescribable loneliness at summer’s end.

Composed by Shikon, it was released in August 2025.

The fleeting fireworks that bloom and fade in the night sky are layered with memories of a summer that will never return.

Her signature husky vocals intertwine with the mellow melody, tightening something deep in the listener’s chest.

On a night after the bustle has faded, try listening in quiet solitude, lost in thought.

Goldfish FireworksOtsuka Ai

Ai Otsuka / Goldfish Fireworks

This song, a masterpiece ballad by Ai Otsuka, pierces our hearts with a summer-set tale of love and farewell.

The Japanese aesthetic hinted at by the title “Kingyo Hanabi” (Goldfish Fireworks) permeates the entire piece.

While Ai Otsuka is often associated with upbeat, happy tunes, hearing her sing such a gentle, tender ballad creates a striking contrast that makes the sadness all the more poignant.

There is a type of fireworks called “kingyo hanabi” done over water, but the motif in this song refers to handheld fireworks that come with a goldfish illustration on the handle when you buy them.

The delicate, beautiful sparks of the goldfish fireworks overlap with the image of a beloved face that flickers in one’s mind.

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Hane Keisuke

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Voice of the Seaurashima tarō (kiritani kenta)

"The Voice of the Sea" Full ver. / Urashima Taro (Kenta Kiritani) [Official]

The song “Umi no Koe” (Voice of the Sea) is an AU commercial theme in which actor Kenta Kiritani, playing Urashima Taro, sings of his yearning for Otohime.

The composition is by BEGIN’s Masaru Shimabukuro, and the sanshin performance is by Kiritani himself.

The song is heartbreaking even just as a love song that may never reach its destination, but the simple sanshin melody and Kiritani’s unadorned vocals amplify the poignancy even more.

It’s also popular as a karaoke number, so if you’re in unrequited love, why not sing it and let all your feelings out?

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sasashina

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Summer HornsInagaki Junichi

Junichi Inagaki Summer Horn

Junichi Inagaki’s song lets a bittersweet late-summer mood seep through his voice.

While many people associate him strongly with “Christmas Carol no Koro ni,” he’s also sung refreshing yet heartrending summer masterpieces like this.

The sound of the car horn that echoed on that summer day has been carried off by the wind and can no longer be heard… What kinds of memories were packed into that horn’s sound, I wonder?

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SAKI

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