The Netflix Programs Midnight Diner and Midnight Diner Tokyo Stories use music prominently throughout the series to set the scene and provide a counterpoint to the drama depicted. Most strikingly, the show opens with the contrast of Tsunekichi Suzuki’s song Omoide, which we’ve written about extensively before, as a car rolls slowly, as if floating in a dream, through Tokyo streets. It is a bold artistic move, removing the bustling street sounds of car horns and train rumbles that you may expect and replacing them with the sounds of a gently picked folk guitar song from a largely obscure musician.
This sets the scene for the rest of the Midnight Diner series, where music is used prominently and boldly, almost as if it is another character within a larger dialogue. The Midnight Diner soundtrack also consistently champions lesser known, or more underground artists – in a similar way to how the program itself regularly highlights the outcasts, misfits, and eccentrics of the Japanese night. Artists such as Kimie Fukuhara, who happened to meet the Tokyo Stories director at a party, are regular contributors. Folk underground troubadours such as Sue Marr, with the prominent use of his song Ikiataribattari, help lay the foundation within which the Tokyo Stories unfold. Bands such as the short lived Magic Party close out episodes.
The song Ikiataribattari by Suemarr is used prominently in several episodes of Midnight Diner and comes from the album Minstrel:
Complete List of Songs Used In Midnight Diner & Midnight Diner: Tokyo Stories Soundtracks
Midnight Diner Season 1 | |||
Song Name | Artist | Episode No. | Listen online |
おもいで (Omoide – Remembrances) | 鈴木常吉 Tsunekichi Suzuki | Opening Song | youtube |
Believe in paradise | Magic Party | Ending song | youtube |
まよい猫 (Mayoineko – Lost Cat) | – | 2 | youtube |
父のワルツ (Chichi no Waltz) | 鈴木常吉 Tsunekichi Suzuki | 2,3,8 | youtube |
函館の人 (Hakodate no Hito – The person from Hakodate) | 北島三郎 Kitajima Saburo) | 5 | Acoustic fan version |
Midnight Diner Season 2 | |||
Song Name | Artist | Episode No. | Youtube link |
おもいで (Omoide – Remembrances) | 鈴木常吉 Tsunekichi Suzuki | Opening Song | youtube |
嘘のつき方 (Uso no tsukikata – How to lie) | Love Love Love | Ending Song | youtube |
できること (dekiru koto – All I can do) | 福原希己江 Kimie Fukuhara | 1 | youtube |
あさりの酒蒸し (Asari no sakamushi – Sake steamed Clams) | 福原希己江 Kimie Fukuhara | 3 | youtube |
なかないで (Nakanaide – Don’t cry) | 福原希己江 Kimie Fukuhara | 4,7 | youtube |
羽田( Haneda) | 福原希己江 Kimie Fukuhara | 10 | youtube |
Midnight Diner Season 3 | |||
おもいで (Omoide – Remembrances) | 鈴木常吉 Tsunekichi Suzuki | Opening Song | youtube |
yakimochi | 高橋優 Yu Takahashi | Ending Song | youtube |
何も言わないで(Nani mo iwanaide – Do not say anything) | 星川とき江 Hoshikawa Tokie | 1 | youtube |
ぶたトマト( Buta tomato – Bacon wrapped tomato) | 福原希己江 Kimie Fukuhara | 2 | Apple Music |
ちょいと寂しい夜のうた( Choito sabishii yoru no uta – Song of a little lonely night) | スーマー Suemarr | 4 | youtube |
紅天の女(Beni Ten no Onna – Women of deep red sky) | 福原希己江 Kimie Fukuhara | 4 | youtube |
ロールキャベツ (Rooru Kyabetsu – Cabbage Rolls) | 福原希己江 Kimie Fukuhara | 6 | youtube |
人生行きあたりばったり(Jinsei ikiataribattari – Life by chance) | スーマー Suemarr | 10 | youtube |
想い想われ(Omoi sou ware) | 福原希己江 Kimie Fukuhara | 10 | youtube |
Midnight Diner: Tokyo Stories Season 1 | |||
おもいで (Omoide – Remembrances) | 鈴木常吉 Tsunekichi Suzuki | Opening Song | youtube |
人生行きあたりばったり(Jinsei ikiataribattari – Life by chance) | スーマー Suemarr | Ending song of episode 1 | youtube |
道路 (Douro – Road) | スーマー Suemarr | Ending song of episode 3 | Youtube |
雨の想い出(Ame no omoide – Memories of rain) | 福原希己江 Kimie Fukuhara | 4 | Youtube |
ちょいと寂しい夜のうた( Choito sabishii yoru no uta – Song of a little lonely night) | スーマー Suemarr | Ending song of episode 4 | youtube |
夜明けまで( Yoake made – Untill Dawn) | スーマー Suemarr | 5 | Youtube |
月明かりよ( Tsukiakariyo – Moonlight) | スーマー Suemarr | Ending song of episode 5 | Youtube |
ちょいと寂しい夜のうた( Choito sabishii yoru no uta – Song of a little lonely night) | スーマー Suemarr | Ending song of episode 7 | youtube |
想い想われ(Omoi sou ware) | 福原希己江 Kimie Fukuhara | Ending song of episode 8 | youtube |
できること (dekiru koto – All I can do) | 福原希己江 Kimie Fukuhara | 9 | youtube |
人生行きあたりばったり(Jinsei ikiataribattari – Life by chance) | スーマー Suemarr | Ending song of episode 10 | youtube |
想い想われ(Omoi sou ware) | 福原希己江 Kimie Fukuhara | Ending song of episode 10 | youtube |
Midnight Diner: Tokyo Stories Season 2 | |||
おもいで (Omoide – Remembrances) | 鈴木常吉 Tsunekichi Suzuki | Opening Song | youtube |
ミルクをしぼる少女(Miruku wo shiboru shoujo) | 福原希己江 Kimie Fukuhara | 1 | Youtube |
石(Ishi – Stone) | 鈴木常吉 Tsunekichi Suzuki | Ending song of episode 1 | Youtube |
人生行きあたりばったり(Jinsei ikiataribattari – Life by chance) | スーマー Suemarr | Ending song of episode 2 | youtube |
夜明けまで( Yoake made – Untill Dawn) | スーマー Suemarr | Ending song of episode 3 | Youtube |
ちょいと寂しい夜のうた( Choito sabishii yoru no uta – Song of a little lonely night) | スーマー Suemarr | Ending song of episode 4 | youtube |
おもいで (Omoide – Remembrances) | 鈴木常吉 Tsunekichi Suzuki | Ending song of episode 5 | youtube |
碧い月の夜に(Aoi tsuki no yoru ni – On a blue moon night) | 福原希己江 Kimie Fukuhara | Ending song of episode 6 | Youtube |
ミルクをしぼる少女(Miruku wo shiboru shoujo) | 福原希己江 Kimie Fukuhara | Ending song of episode 9 | Youtube |
おもいで (Omoide – Remembrances) | 鈴木常吉 Tsunekichi Suzuki | Ending song of episode 10 | youtube |
ミルクをしぼる少女(Miruku wo shiboru shoujo) | 福原希己江 Kimie Fukuhara | Ending song of episode 10 | Youtube |
Digital downloads for the full Suemarr Minstrel album are available here.
List of songs used in Midnight Diner Soundtrack
We couldn’t find a complete list of all the music from Midnight Diner and Midnight Diner Tokyo Stories, so we decided to put one together!
It’s actually quite a project. There are a lot of different songs used in different episodes, and most of the songs are not credited. Not many come up using audio recognition software such as Shazam, either. So there is a bit of detective work involved. Here is what we have been able to come up with so far, and we will keep adding to the list as we go along.