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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[For When You Want to Get Sentimental] Classic Japanese Songs Overflowing with Melancholic Atmosphere (21–30)
I want to be loved.Oku Hanako
A song that tenderly embraces the earnest wish to be loved.
Created by singer-songwriter Okuhanako, it appears on the album “vol.best,” released in April 2005 during her indie days.
The piece gives voice, over a quiet piano melody, to a piercing question: can we keep living by clinging to the memories of being loved, even when we feel hollowed out by loneliness? Her voice—praised as one that can move you to tears on sound alone—seems to gently scoop up feelings that words can’t express.
The song distills the power of her music, which speaks straight to the heart—this is the artist who once sold 488 CDs in a single day at a street performance.
On nights when you long to be loved deeply by someone, listening alone in silence may kindle a warm light in your heart.
tearsHitsuji Bungaku
A sound infused with a quiet yet palpable intensity gently stirs something deep in your chest.
It’s a song by the alternative rock band Hitsujibungaku, released in February 2024.
Written as the theme song for the film “Kakushigoto” starring Anne, it was later included on the album “Don’t Laugh It Off.” The lyrics, which seem to carefully scoop up the warped yet profound love between parent and child, and Moeka Shiotsuka’s clear, translucent vocals are deeply moving.
The cello—introduced for the first time—adds a heartrending tone that feels like it’s expressing an unsteady, wavering heart.
It’s the perfect track for nights when you’re overwhelmed by inescapable emotions.
[For When You Want to Get Sentimental] Classic Japanese Songs Overflowing with Melancholic Atmosphere (31–40)
LemonYonezu Kenshi
The theme song for the TBS Friday drama “Unnatural,” which aired in March 2018, is one of Kenshi Yonezu’s signature works, depicting profound grief for someone lost and unwavering feelings that remain.
It reflects his personal experience of losing his grandfather during production, and carefully portrays a protagonist who faces death while living on with cherished memories of a loved one.
The bitterness and tartness of a lemon symbolize complex emotions that resonate deeply, and the song became a massive hit with over 900 million views on YouTube.
It’s a perfect track for times when you want to share sorrow or quietly heighten your emotions.
If you watched the drama, it will surely spark fond reminiscences in conversation.
waxing; filling up; becoming full; growing (e.g., the moon growing fuller)Fuji Kaze
That even the most brilliant moments must come to an end—and that by letting go of attachment, the heart can be filled.
Released in March 2024 as the theme song for the film “When April Comes, She Will,” this is Fujii Kaze’s first love song.
It gently sings of the futility of love that seeks something in return and the fulfillment that unconditional love brings.
His tender voice, carried by a soft piano melody, teaches us the importance of embracing change.
It’s a song I recommend to those who have experienced parting from someone dear, or who wish to reconsider what it means to love.
SubtitleOfisharu Higedan Dism
It’s a classic written as the theme song for the drama “silent,” starring Haruna Kawaguchi and Ren Meguro.
The nationally beloved piano pop band Official HIGE DANDism released it in October 2022.
The song expresses the fragility and frustration of words that, like snowflakes, can’t hold their shape and melt away.
The protagonist’s desperate cry—feelings that can’t be conveyed by words alone—rises on a dramatic melody and really hits home.
Alongside the drama’s huge success, it went viral on social media and reached No.
1 on the Billboard Japan Hot 100.
It’s a beautiful ballad that gently stays by your side when you can’t tell the person you love how you feel.
rendezvousshaitoopu
The rock band Shytone, which rose to prominence after a viral hit on social media, released a signature track in April 2023 that sings of a man’s searing emotions after a breakup.
Unable to accept parting from someone he loved deeply, he longs for an impossible reunion; the loneliness of his lover’s traces fading from everyday life is expressed through vocalist So Sasaki’s superb word choices—so moving you might be brought to tears.
The song is also known for surpassing 100 million total streams in November 2023 and is included on the album “Hors d’œuvre.” Why not entrust your heart to its somehow comforting melody that stirs up those bittersweet feelings?
I want to be loved.Mioyamazaki
On nights when you’re overwhelmed by an inescapable loneliness and simply wish to be loved, the ballad by the rock band MIOYAMAZAKI is there to keep you company.
This song lays bare a desperate cry to have someone acknowledge the weaknesses hidden deep within your heart and your true, unadorned self, delivered through vocals that sound as if they’re carved from the soul.
Included as the final track on the masterful album “choice,” released in October 2017, it also drew attention for its music video featuring then-popular adult actress Kirara Asuka.
The visuals, portraying her inner conflict, deepen the song’s poignant worldview.
If anyone reading this feels their chest about to burst from unspoken anxieties, this track will surely wrap your heart in gentle warmth.