In everyday life, we all go through sad experiences—like heartbreak or setbacks at work.
When you’re feeling down, some people listen to upbeat, energizing songs to lift their spirits, while others intentionally choose sad songs.
Which are you?
Sometimes, letting yourself sink into the ultimate sentimental mood with a sad song can actually make the sadness fade.
Here, we’ll introduce some classic Japanese songs that sing of sorrow!
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- [Melancholy] For when you want to sink all the way. Masterpieces that depict various kinds of gloom.
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Top 10 classic Japanese songs about sorrow
dizzinessNEW!DREAMS COME TRUE
An exquisite ballad perfect for spring, portraying a profound sense of loss so deep it makes your body waver.
Created by DREAMS COME TRUE, who continue to lead the Japanese music scene, it’s included on their album THE LOVE ROCKS, released in February 2006.
The song was produced as the theme for the TV Asahi drama special “Ai to Shi o Mitsumete” (“Gazing at Love and Death”).
Miwa Yoshida’s deeply expressive vocals and Masato Nakamura’s minimalist, subtractive arrangement—both mirroring the story’s gravitas—leave a lasting impression.
How about listening to a track that gently accompanies those trying to overcome the pain of heartbreak?
The song that comes afterback number
back number portrays lingering attachment and regret after a breakup in unadorned, down-to-earth words.
“Ato no Uta,” included on their indie-era album Ato no Matsuri, is a hidden gem released in June 2010.
The lyrics describe the ironic psychology where deliberately avoiding reminders in an effort to forget only makes you more conscious of the other person’s presence.
By refusing to dress up the pain of heartbreak and instead depicting it as traces that remain in everyday life, the song’s words carry a wrenching sense of reality.
It’s a track you’ll want to listen to on nights when the sadness of parting hasn’t healed and memories resurface in unguarded moments.
If you’re standing still, unable to sort out a past love, this song will gently stay by your side.
Good ByeHY
A ballad marked by the piano’s gentle timbre and a vocal performance that speaks to the heart.
Featured on the 14th album HANAEMI, released in February 2021, this track was written and composed by Nakasone.
Unlike a song that simply dwells in the sorrow of heartbreak, it conveys gratitude toward the other person and embodies the strength to look forward, resulting in a piece that gently encourages the listener.
It’s sure to give you courage when you want to overcome the pain of parting and take a new step forward.
Why do I feel so sad?yoshida takurou
Have you ever felt a sudden wave of loneliness while walking alone through the city late at night? This song, included on the album “Ningen Nante,” released in November 1971, is one that gently stays by your side in such wistful moments.
It’s said that Takuro Yoshida wrote it in one go after returning home from Shinjuku and listening to James Brown, riding that emotional momentum.
The band sound featuring Kazuhiko Kato and others sinks deeply into a lonely heart.
In 2017, it was used as the ending theme for TV Tokyo’s drama “Pense,” bringing it renewed attention.
Try listening to it quietly at night, sipping a drink by yourself.
This timeless work will gently soothe your tired soul.
Until the day I can no longer rememberback number
A poignant ballad by back number that quietly sings of lingering feelings and a sense of loss for a former lover.
Released in October 2011 as their third single, the song is also included on the album “Superstar,” which came out the same month.
The lyrics portray the emptiness of days that keep going even after losing the most important person in the world, and the deep bond in which the two formed halves of each other.
Fear of memories of the other fading intertwines with the resignation that they will eventually be forgotten, and the realization that the time spent with the person was part of oneself wells up with aching tenderness.
A song that offers comfort to anyone who has lost someone dear.
No way I’m going to forget it.SHISHAMO
An emotional rock number by SHISHAMO that hurls the anger and sorrow of heartbreak straight at you.
Included on the album “SHISHAMO 6,” released in January 2020, this track stands out for its unique structure, unfolding from a reggae-flavored beat into intense rock.
The protagonist’s searing emotions—crying, throwing up, and still trying to live on—pierce the heart through Asako Miyazaki’s vocals.
It’s a work that transforms the anger of heartbreak into catharsis.
MetronomeYonezu Kenshi
It’s a poignant song by Kenshi Yonezu that depicts the growing mismatch of feelings between two people who matter to each other.
It’s included on his 2015 album Bremen.
The lyrics liken two metronomes that initially tick in the same rhythm but gradually fall out of sync over time to a relationship drifting apart, offering solace to the pain of loss that everyone experiences.
The gentle tempo and piano tones are soothing, and you can’t help but be drawn in.
It’s a song I especially want those grieving the loss of someone dear to listen to.