For When You Want to Get Sentimental: Classic Japanese Songs Overflowing with a Melancholic Atmosphere
There are times when you suddenly find yourself feeling sentimental, aren’t there?
Cheering yourself up is one way to go, but it might also be nice to just let yourself be as you are in those moments.
In this article, we’ve picked out songs you can sink into on a sentimental day.
Letting yourself go with the flow and listening to classics like these can be surprisingly soothing.
These tracks aren’t just for autumn nights—you can enjoy them in all sorts of seasons and situations.
Hopefully you’ll find a song that fits your sentimental mood.
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- A nostalgic song—a timeless classic that somehow feels familiar and touches the heart.
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[For When You Want to Get Sentimental] Classic Japanese Songs Overflowing with Melancholic Atmosphere (21–30)
Stars are falling.Senchimirimentaru
This is a winter ballad that sings of lingering feelings for a former lover.
Released by Centimillimental in November 2025, the song was written as the commercial theme for the Laguna Illumination “Carnival of Light and Water,” held at the Laguna Ten Bosch resort in Gamagori, Aichi Prefecture.
Grand piano-and-strings arrangements are layered with Atsushi’s delicate vocals to paint a poignant world where longing and bravado intersect.
The protagonist, torn between wishing happiness for the person they parted from and emotions that won’t fade, resonates powerfully alongside the image of lights pouring down the winter night sky.
It’s a track I especially recommend to anyone trying to face forward after a heartbreak.
Night of Osmanthuskinoko teikoku
A rock band that captivates fans with a one-of-a-kind worldview, Kinoko Teikoku delivers this track featured on their September 2018 album Time Lapse.
It opens with an intro of dreamy guitars, and vocalist Chiaki Sato’s nostalgic singing really resonates.
On a night when the scent of fragrant olive drifts softly through the air, the lyrics paint a poignant scene in which memories of a past love resurface—evoking a sentimentality unique to autumn.
The song is also known for being used in Recruit’s SUUMO commercial.
Its beautiful yet wistful ensemble makes it the perfect melancholy rock tune to sink into as the weather turns chilly.
What is happiness?Chiba Yūki
Released in October 2025, “What Is Happiness?” was selected as the theme song for the Kansai TV/Fuji TV Monday 10 p.m.
drama The Final Rondo — To You Whom I Can Never Meet Again.
With this track, Chiba ventured into a style reminiscent of kayōkyoku, emphasizing the melody line.
The lyrics, written in plain language about everyday struggles and ordinary views of happiness, speak to the universal question, “What is happiness?” It’s a moving song that gently comforts those who have experienced parting or loss of someone dear.
366 daysHY
This is a ballad that delicately portrays the bittersweet feeling of a love once deeply cherished that never fades from the heart, even as time passes.
The protagonist, unable to stop thinking about the person they parted with all day long, is gently and vividly depicted through Izumi Nakasone’s powerful yet tender vocals.
Included on the 2008 album “HeartY,” it was also used as the theme song for the film “Thread of Red (Akai Ito).” There’s also a well-known anecdote that the songwriter temporarily broke up with their partner at the time in order to write the lyrics.
It’s a song that quietly sits beside those whose heartbreak hasn’t healed, or on nights when you find yourself reminiscing about a past love.
hydrangeaPEOPLE 1
A poignant ballad you’ll want to listen to on a rainy day.
This song, performed by PEOPLE 1, is a masterpiece in which vocalist Ito’s richly expressive voice gently sinks into your heart.
Released in June 2022, it colored the drama Kanakana’s most heartrending scenes as an insert song.
It was later included on the album Hoshimeguri, Kimi ni Kinsei.
The lyrics, which liken shifting romantic feelings to the seasons and hydrangeas, are lyrical and squeeze your heart even just to read them.
1991Yonezu Kenshi
Kenshi Yonezu, a singer-songwriter leading the Japanese music scene.
This song, written as the theme for the live-action film “5 Centimeters per Second,” bears the title 1991—the year he was born—reflecting his deep attachment to the original work.
The lyrics, woven around themes of memory and loss that trace personal emotions, convey a will to keep moving forward while facing the past, making it highly relatable for many listeners.
It’s an emotional number that will resonate deeply with those at a turning point in life or anyone wishing to confront precious memories.
JANE DOEYonezu Kenshi, Utada Hikaru
This work brings together two of Japan’s leading singer-songwriters, Kenshi Yonezu and Hikaru Utada, as the ending theme for the feature-length anime Chainsaw Man: Reze Arc.
It is included on the double A-side single IRIS OUT / JANE DOE, released in September 2025.
The lyrics, poetically weaving pain and memory and a call to what has been lost, sweep through the heart like a breeze through Utada’s clear yet melancholic vocals.
The delicate world crafted by Yonezu and the expressive power of Utada overlap to create a transience and lingering resonance that gently accompanies you when someone dear comes to mind or when you want to quietly face your emotions—a song that truly strikes a chord.