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 love for lifeGarakuta
This is a song by Garakuta, a four-piece band based in Nagoya, that portrays unrequited feelings of love in a down-to-earth, relatable way.
If confessing would risk ruining what we have now, I’d rather keep my feelings to myself.
Many listeners will likely feel their hearts tighten at the blend of bravado and honest emotion in the lyrics.
Featured as the first track on their EP released in March 2024, “May it be my song that fills the gaps in your heart,” this piece is perfect for anyone stuck in a love they can’t quite step forward into, despite how strongly they feel.
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.
LÖVE MEBUDDiiS
It’s a BUDDiiS track that captures the frustrating feelings of a one-sided crush—wanting to get closer to someone but not being able to—in straightforward, relatable words.
Released as a single in May 2025, it blends sweet-and-sour lyrics with classic pop sounds, creating a cute world that makes your heart race just by listening.
Many will relate to the pure feelings of love sung over its dramatic melody.
For anyone stuck on the verge of stepping forward toward the person they can’t take their eyes off, this song gives a gentle push.
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.
Coffee SongHOWL BE QUIET
A love song that overlays the ache of unrequited feelings onto an everyday moment.
Released digitally in 2021 by the piano rock band HOWL BE QUIET and later included on their final album, HOWL BE QUIET, this track is also known for having been created through communication with fans during livestreamed performances.
Told from a female perspective, its portrayal of a love that goes unrewarded is deeply moving.
With lyrics that revive memories along with the aroma of coffee, it’s perfect for nights spent thinking of someone.
A song for everyone who carries feelings that can’t reach their destination.
Specter feat. HACHIMIMiNARI
A tender crush that changes the color of your world is wrapped in a voice full of transparency.
Part of MIMiNARI’s “turning memories into music” project, the track features singer HACHI on vocals.
It’s the lead song from their first full-length album, “freq.,” released in March 2025.
With stylish, Chinese-inspired arrangements, the sound stands out.
The lyrics capture the frustrating feelings of a girl who hasn’t quite grown up.
Give it a listen when you’re unsure where your love is headed.
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!