Yumi Arai Popular Song Rankings [2026]

contrailArai Yumi1rank/position

Yumi Matsutoya – Vapor Trail (Yumi Arai The Concert with Old Friends)

The story of a boy drawn on a white slope reflects Yumi Arai’s inner landscape from her youth.

With a clear, crystalline voice and beautiful piano lines, she gently sings of a longing for the heavens and a parting from the earthly world.

Inspired by feelings for a classmate from her elementary school days, the piece takes flight on a fragile yet refreshing melody, brimming with the radiance of life and hope for liberation.

Released in November 1973 as the title track of the album “Hikōki Gumo,” it drew renewed attention in 2013 as the theme song for Studio Ghibli’s “The Wind Rises.” It is a gem of a song that tenderly supports those who have experienced the loss of someone dear, as well as young people standing at a crossroads in life.

If I’m wrapped in kindnessArai Yumi2rank/position

With sheet music [Piano and Guitar] 'Wrapped in Gentleness' - Studio Ghibli, Kiki's Delivery Service, by Yumi Arai

This song is marked by a warm melody that reminds you of the clear-hearted innocence of childhood.

Originally included on the April 1974 album “MISSLIM,” it’s also known as the ending theme of Studio Ghibli’s 1989 film “Kiki’s Delivery Service.” The piece imparts a mysterious sense of comfort, as if everything you see carries a special message.

The light piano accompaniment is lovely, but rendering the enveloping melody on guitar will further deepen the original’s nostalgic atmosphere.

Close your eyesArai Yumi3rank/position

Goto Islands Naru High School Favorite Song Written and Composed by Yumi Arai “Close Your Eyes”

This song was created after a female student from a certain high school in 1974 wrote to the All Night Nippon segment “We’ll make a personal image song just for you,” asking them to compose a school song.

Although it did not become the official school anthem, it came to be treated as a beloved song, and in that region it is played not only at graduation ceremonies but also when ships depart carrying island residents who are leaving the island.

Message of RougeArai Yumi4rank/position

Rouge’s Message [Recorder] from “Kiki’s Delivery Service” · Yumi Arai · With Do-Re-Mi Sheet Music

This was Yumi Arai’s fifth single, released in February 1975.

Years later, it was chosen as the opening theme for Studio Ghibli’s film Kiki’s Delivery Service, making it a beloved song across generations.

Its bright, bouncy melody is easy to play on the recorder, and the lively tempo makes it fun to perform.

With a retro vibe inspired by 1950s–60s American pop, it pairs perfectly with the recorder’s simple, rustic tone.

It’s also a great choice to play for fans of Ghibli works!

Graduation PhotoArai Yumi5rank/position

Graduation Photograph / Sotsugyou Shashin

A timeless classic that fills you with a tender, bittersweet feeling as spring arrives.

Included on the album COBALT HOUR released in June 1975, this piece first appeared that February as a song provided to Hi-Fi Set, and was later self-covered by Yumi Arai—who would become Yumi Matsutoya—in her own voice.

The changing self, and the gentle gaze captured in an unchanging photograph—the contrast is deeply moving.

In 2007, it was featured in a commercial for Kirin Lager Beer, showing how it continues to be loved across generations.

It’s a song like a charm for the heart, one that helps you reaffirm your unwavering feelings for someone dear.

Darkening RoomArai Yumi6rank/position

The Paled Room / Kageriyuku Heya (2022 Ｍix)

A masterpiece by Yumi Arai that poignantly portrays lovers facing a breakup, depicted through the shifting scene of a room from dusk to nightfall.

The solemn arrangement featuring a pipe organ and the gospel-style chorus by an all-star lineup—including Hi-Fi Set and Tatsuro Yamashita—further accentuate the pain of parting.

Released in March 1976, the song reached No.

10 on the weekly Oricon chart and No.

43 on the year-end chart.

It’s a track I wholeheartedly recommend to anyone who has experienced the farewell of a loved one.

I want to go back to that dayArai Yumi7rank/position

Those Were The Days / Anohi Ni Kaeritai (2022 Ｍix)

Yumi Arai’s sixth single, released in October 1975, is a love song that wistfully longs for days gone by.

Chosen as the ending theme for the TBS drama “Kazoku no Himitsu,” it reached No.

1 on the Oricon weekly singles chart, selling approximately 615,000 copies in total and becoming Yuming’s first number-one hit.

Even knowing it can never come true, the heart drifts back to “that day.” The guilty feeling that recalling a past love might hurt someone in the present, and the irrepressible urge to return to it—this duality is rendered with delicate nuance through a restrained yet uplifting melody and a prose-like narrative voice.

It’s a song that gently stays by your side on nights when old romances come to mind.