Crying songs, tear-jerker tunes. A request of tears dedicated to you.
When you hear the phrase “tearjerker song,” what kind of track comes to mind?
A heartbreaking breakup song, a love song that sings of earnest devotion, a piece that tells a moving story, an anthem that cheers on life, a song about loss…
Even just listing them like this shows how many kinds of tearjerker songs there are, doesn’t it?
In this article, we’ll introduce a selection of masterpieces that shake us listeners to the core—songs you can’t hear without tears.
We’ve picked out all kinds of genres and moods—above all, songs that will make you cry.
If you find one that resonates with your experiences and feelings, it’s sure to become a treasured song for you.
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- Songs to Play at My Own Funeral: Timeless Gems to Make Farewells Uniquely My Own
- [A Cheer for Myself] A pep song dedicated to you who are doing your very best
- A beautiful Japanese song that purifies the heart. A highly recommended classic.
- Love, bonds, parting, cheers… songs so moving they pierce the heart and make you cry uncontrollably
- Tears won’t stop with these sentimental lyrics! Heisei-era tearjerker songs
- Nostalgic Showa-era heartbreak songs. Soothe your heart with timeless classics that can move women in their 60s to tears.
Crying songs, tear-jerker anthems. A tearful request dedicated to you (21–30)
planetariumOtsuka Ai
Ai Otsuka’s 10th single, released in September 2005.
It’s a tear-jerking love ballad that is the complete opposite in mood from her breakthrough and biggest hit, Sakuranbo.
It reached No.
1 on the Oricon weekly chart and became a long-running hit, with total sales of 340,000 copies.
day by dayYoshida Yamada
It gained attention on NHK’s Minna no Uta and became a hot topic as a tear-jerking song.
The lyrics depict the lives of a grandfather and grandmother, creating a chain of emotion that resonated across generations.
It’s a song that fills you with gratitude for those who raised you—your parents and grandparents—and wraps you in a gentle, tender feeling.
On the night the world endsChatto Monchī
This song isn’t very well-known among Chatmonchy’s works, but it has one of the most beautiful, top-tier melody lines and guitar riffs in their catalog.
The lyrics—saying, “If I were God, I wouldn’t create a world like this”—are so fleeting and heartbreaking they make you cry.
Daddy, DarlingG-FREAK FACTORY
It sings about the struggles of living in the present age.
Unlike Japan in the past, it has become peaceful, safe, and prosperous, but that’s precisely why it feels like a harder time to live in—this sentiment comes through.
The final lyrics reflecting on peace are something that everyone living today can probably relate to.
signpostFukuyama Masaharu
This song, included on Masaharu Fukuyama’s 24th single “Keshin,” was created with life as its theme, inspired by Fukuyama’s own grandmother, and served as the ending theme for NTV’s “NEWS ZERO.” It is filled with gratitude for those who, through unconditional love, have connected and nurtured life.
He was alive, wasn’t he?aimyon
It’s said to be a song written after seeing the news about a high school girl who jumped to her death.
In the verse, it’s not sung but spoken, as if appealing to someone, and then partway through it turns into singing.
The first time I heard it, I got goosebumps.
It sounds like it affirms the wounds borne by the girl who took her own life and, through this song, says, “You’re not to blame.”
one grainwacci
Released on October 29, 2025, this song is a poignant ballad told from the perspective of the one who chose to end the relationship.
Created as one half of a two-part project by wacci themed around the end of love, it forms a compelling pair with “Kanojo Janakunaru no ni,” which was released in September.
The lyrics gently examine each long-suppressed feeling, the warm sound of piano and strings offers close support, and Yohei Hashiguchi’s earnest vocals strike straight to the heart.
Interweaving regret and resolve as the protagonist carries both a lost everyday life and a safeguarded future, this work will resonate all the more deeply with anyone who has ever shed tears over their own decision.