Unrequited love songs recommended for teenage girls: classic and popular Japanese hits
If you have feelings you can’t put into words, let a song speak for you! This time, we’re featuring Japanese pop songs about unrequited love.
The rich variety of expressions—so moving you’ll be amazed such feelings can be conveyed—are a special pleasure unique to the Japanese language.
Top unrequited love songs recommended for teenage girls: Classic and popular Japanese tracks (1–10)
Love-SicknessHONEY WORKS
Here’s something I’d recommend to teenage girls who love Vocaloid.
It’s an unrequited love song by the creator collective HoneyWorks, released on a video site in 2013.
The lyrics, which pour out feelings for a crush, are sure to make your heart skip a beat.
Be sure to listen along with the manga-style video!
Unrequited loveAimer
The straightforward feelings that come through in the lyrics are heart-fluttering.
It’s a song by Aimer, a singer popular among the younger generation.
It was included on the 2016 album Daydream.
Precisely because of its steady, understated tone, it conjures an image of emotions overflowing.
LemonYonezu Kenshi
Released in 2018 as their eighth single, it was written specifically as the theme song for the TBS television drama “Unnatural.” The music video has also been highly acclaimed, and with over 100 million views, it stands out as an unusually distinctive track.
mutual unrequited loveDXTEEN
It’s a heart-tickling youth love song packed with the sweet, bittersweet flutter of the moment when love begins to move.
Released in September 2025 as DXTEEN’s 6th single, the track portrays that delicate distance between two people who like each other but can’t quite take the next step.
It also drew attention as the theme song for the drama “I Joined a Group I’m Not Close With on the School Trip.” The initial rush of romance and the thrill of feeling the gap slowly close with someone you like are vividly expressed through the members’ fresh, breezy vocals.
Give it a listen when you want to move your relationship forward.
I love you.Inoue Sonoko
Released in 2015 as their major-label debut single, this charming track features straightforward lyrics and a refreshing sound that really sticks in your head.
The music video’s story about a girl with an unrequited crush beautifully captures the bittersweetness of youth and is quite moving.
Voice of the SeaKiritani Kenta
It’s a digital single released in 2015, an original song created for the au Santaro series, where Kenta Kiritani, playing Urashima Taro, sings it in the commercial “au Feature Phone ‘Voice of the Sea’ Edition.” The sound of the sanshin matches perfectly with Kiritani’s husky voice!
Unrequited lovemiwa
Released in 2012 as their eighth single, this song has become one of their signature tracks, earning them a second appearance on Music Station.
It expresses the honest, straightforward feelings of unrequited love and delicately captures the nuances of a tender heart in love.