Winter Songs: Classic tracks you want to listen to in winter. Songs you long for during the winter.

Before it turns whiteRyuya Miyase

Ryubi Miyase (Miyase Ryuya) – Before It Turns White [Official Music Video]

Set to a light, jazzy pop sound, this winter song celebrates the arrival of the season and budding romance.

Actor Ryubi Miyase wrote the lyrics under the name “Ryubi Miyase,” infusing them with a desire to vividly capture both the cityscape before it turns completely white with snow and the moments spent with a loved one.

The track was newly written as the opening theme for Miyase’s first leading drama, “First Love of the Snowdrop,” which began airing in October 2024.

It was released for streaming to coincide with the broadcast and was packaged as a long-awaited first single in December 2024.

With stylish chord progressions and a sweet, soothing vocal, it’s perfect for nights when you want to sink into a romantic mood.

It’s a must-listen for anyone who wants to enjoy a winter romance while reflecting on the drama’s storyline.

thawAwesome City Club

Yukidoke / Awesome City Club (LYRIC VIDEO)

This work by Awesome City Club was released in November 2021 as the second installment in a series of seven consecutive digital singles.

It’s a song that fully showcases the appeal of their twin vocals, with a warm sound arrangement featuring piano and strings that leaves a strong impression.

It depicts a couple spending a cold night together, delicately expressing the complex emotions that arise on the brink of parting.

The bittersweetness blends with a romantic atmosphere, making your heart ache.

Please take the time to listen closely.

Love Garmentimase

[imase] Koi-goromo (Music Video)

imase’s music has a gentle warmth, like a cup of hot milk tea on a cold day.

Released on February 5, 2024, this song is a lovely love song that makes you forget the winter chill.

Born from a collaboration project with Kirin Afternoon Tea, it features a country-style sound and distinctive strings.

It expresses the warm feelings lovers share during cold days together through the metaphor of “koi-goromo” (love’s garment).

It’s a track that makes you think, “Love is wonderful.”

forgotten itemGRAPEVINE

forgotten item

Puddles reflecting the sun, a sweat-drenched past, holiday lights in December—though the lyrics are dotted with such vivid scenes, a somehow bittersweet and distant memory rises to the surface in this GRAPEVINE number.

The song appears as the fourth track on their 19th album, Far From That Road, released in May 2025, with lyrics by Kazumasa Tanaka and music by drummer Toru Kamei.

The jangly guitars layered with strings gently cradle a nostalgia for something lost in adulthood.

It’s a perfect song for the year’s end, when you find yourself looking back and longing for “those days.”

Beyond the GoldenAwich × ALI

Awich × ALI – Beyond the Golden (Golden Horizon) / Anime "Golden Kamuy" Final Chapter OP

This is a spectacular collaboration track by Awich, a rapper with overwhelming presence, and ALI, a band known for its multinational musicality.

Fusing razor-sharp hip-hop lyricism with a full-band sound, the piece powerfully conveys the weight of life and the force of prayer.

It has been available for streaming since October 2025, and was written as the theme song for the theatrical advance version of the final chapter of the TV anime Golden Kamuy, the “Sapporo Beer Factory Arc.” The track delivers a soul-stirring surge of energy that resonates with the story set in Hokkaido’s winter.

With heat that blows away the bitter cold, it’s a song that gives a strong push to those facing hardship—an inspiring anthem you’ll definitely want to hear!

LAT.43°N 〜forty-three degrees north〜DREAMS COME TRUE

LAT.43°N 〜forty-three degrees north latitude〜

The duo affectionately known as “DoriCam,” DREAMS COME TRUE.

This single, released in November 1989 and also included on the classic album LOVE GOES ON…, is an early masterpiece.

Set in a city at 43 degrees north latitude, its lyrics poignantly portray the heartache of a long-distance relationship and the sense of separation felt over the phone.

The anxiety of time spent apart overlaps with the chill of winter, resonating deeply with listeners.

While it wasn’t a major chart hit at the time of release, it was later included on a best-of album and frequently ranks high in live request polls, cementing its status as a hidden gem.

How about listening to it on a quiet, snowy night, when you want to immerse yourself in its lyrical world alone?

BreathLaputa

Breath – Laputa

Laputa, a flagship band of the Nagoya-kei subgenre that steadfastly upheld its own aesthetics in the ’90s visual kei scene.

The winter scenery they depict goes beyond a mere seasonal song, coexisting with taut tension and beauty.

Released as a single in January 1999, this work also reached living rooms as the opening theme of the TV program “Rank Kingdom.” True to its title, within a worldview where even “breath” seems to freeze white, the interplay of aki’s heartrending, piercing vocals and Kouichi’s meticulous guitar work can only be described as art.

Also included on the album “Sho ~Kakera~ Hadaka,” it remains beloved by fans as a signature number from the band’s later period.

It’s a winter masterpiece that lingers in the history of ’90s visual kei, the kind you’ll want to listen to alone on a frigid winter night, sinking into the silence and its profound afterglow.