Popular Cheer Songs [Japanese Music Ranking]
We’re excited to present the latest top 100 ranking of Japanese motivational support songs, introduced all at once in order of most views!
There are moments when you need to fire up your team—or yourself—like during club or society matches, important exams or meetings, or when taking on a new challenge.
There are plenty of songs that will give you courage in those times, so be sure to give them a listen.
The playlist is updated weekly.
- [A Cheer for Myself] A pep song dedicated to you who are doing your very best
- [Deeply Moving] A Tear-Jerking Cheer Song: Popular Inspirational Anthems That Resonate with the Heart
- [For those doing their best] A collection of motivational cheer songs
- [Exams, Club Activities, Dreams] Encouragement songs recommended for teens: Tracks to listen to when you want to do your best
- Recommended cheer songs for elementary school students: popular tracks to listen to when you want a boost
- [Today's Cheer Song] To everyone giving it your all! A gem of an inspiring anthem that resonates with the heart
- Recommended cheer-up songs for middle schoolers: Classic Japanese hits that will empower student life
- A collection of uplifting songs: positive tracks to support you
- Recommended cheer-up songs for high school students: tracks that will motivate you to do your best on entrance exams and club activities when you listen to them.
- [Summer Cheer Song] A motivational anthem dedicated to those giving their all in sports or studying for exams
- [Cheering Songs] Japanese tracks to listen to when you’re troubled, lost, or feeling anxious
- Power songs that fill you with energy just by listening. Recommended classics and popular tracks.
- Encouraging songs: timeless masterpieces that resonate with the heart, recommended popular tracks
Popular Cheer Songs [Japanese Music Ranking] (41–50)
Wasted NightsONE OK ROCK50rank/position
It’s a hopeful pop-rock number with a sweeping, grand sound that stirs the heart.
Featured on the band’s ninth album, Eye of the Storm, released in February 2019, the song was also chosen as the theme for the live-action film Kingdom, adapted from the hugely popular manga, perfectly aligning with the work’s majestic world.
The lyrics carry a positive message—“Live today to the fullest so you won’t have regrets”—and Taka’s clear, soaring vocals strike straight at the heart.
When you feel overwhelmed by anxiety about the future or regrets about the past, it powerfully reminds you that no night is ever wasted.
It’s an anthem we urge you to listen to when you need the courage to take a new step forward.
Popular Cheering Songs [Japanese Music Ranking] (51–60)
365 Days’ Paper AirplaneAKB4851rank/position
“365 Nichi no Kamihikouki” (Paper Airplane of 365 Days) is a song that kindles a gentle light in people’s hearts.
As time flows slowly, its lyrics resonate and inspire motivation.
It invites you to step away from the bustle of daily life and gives you a moment to regain your calm.
Its melody is also easy for older listeners to embrace, offering strength to live through various situations.
Although taking on new challenges can become harder with age, this song serves as a warm support precisely in those times.
Small RevolutionSUPER BEAVER52rank/position
This song powerfully sings of the small acts of courage hidden in everyday life and the desire for self-transformation.
Included on the album “Ongaku,” it was released in February 2024 as an insert song for the TV Asahi drama “MARS: Zero no Kakumei.” With an emotional rock style characteristic of SUPER BEAVER, its melody and sound quietly yet fervently urge us to give voice to our inner feelings and reevaluate who we are.
It was also featured in TBS’s special music program “Ongaku no Hi 2024” for a mass sing-along project, where it was performed together with many viewers.
It’s a song that gently gives you a push when you feel life is hard or lonely, or when you want to take a step toward tomorrow.
rainbow-coloredayaka53rank/position
It’s a rousing anthem whose powerful, life-giving vocals and warm, embracing melodies resonate deep in the heart.
It gently paints the strength to overcome any hardship and the hopeful future that awaits beyond.
The lyrics, which speak to the new vistas revealed through painful experiences and the importance of moving forward step by step, stay close to the listener and give them courage.
Ayaka’s 13th single was newly written in June 2014 as the theme song for the NHK morning drama series “Hanako and Anne.” This work is an encouraging message song that speaks to everyone standing at a crossroads in life, feeling anxiety or uncertainty.
It’s a track we especially hope will reach those taking a new step forward or harboring vague worries about the future.
The thing I wanted mostMakihara Noriyuki54rank/position
Noriyuki Makihara creates many songs that turn ordinary, everyday moments into something pop and moving.
One of those songs is “The One I Wanted Most.” Listening to this song is incredibly uplifting.
That’s why I especially want dads and moms who are exhausted from parenting to hear it.
When you’re raising kids, there are so many times you feel like, “I’m the one who wants to cry.” When you feel like you’re even forgetting your gentle feelings, this power song, filled with love, soothes you and brings back the strength to protect your child’s smile.
Shineieiri reo55rank/position
Leo Ieiri’s “Shine” is a perfect anthem for the important milestone of graduation.
While the melody is bright, the wistful strings express both the hope for the future and the anxiety that comes with it.
Her powerful vocals give confidence and courage to anyone embarking on a new start.
This song also earned Ieiri the Best New Artist Award at the 54th Japan Record Awards and has received widespread support.
As you begin the new path of graduation, why not listen to “Shine”?
Peter PanYuuri56rank/position
This is a moving song that expresses a steadfast resolve to chase one’s dreams.
It brilliantly captures the strength to stand by one’s convictions despite social criticism and the purity to envision ideals free from conventions.
Written and composed by Yuuri, this J-pop rock track is marked by a funky backing and a powerful vocal performance.
Since its digital-only release in August 2020, it has resonated with many listeners, and starting in April 2021 it was also used as a corporate commercial song by DIP Corporation.
It’s a track that gently encourages those who want to keep pursuing their dreams and those seeking a path that’s true to themselves.