On natsukashii versus nostalgia

We recently passed my family's Japaniversary (how time flies!) and on an evening walk this week my husband and I were reminiscing about some fond memories we have from our time living here. That conversation then got us thinking about the difference in sentiment for the Japanese word natsukashii, and the English word nostalgia.

We both feel that nostalgia in English has an almost sad feeling to it, like you're missing things from years gone by. By contrast, natsukashii seems much more positive in nature, like you're looking back fondly but not wishing that you could be transported to the past.

For instance, we were remembering when we first moved here in 2013, and we could ride our bikes around Omotesando and Harajuku on the sidewalk...because there weren't really any crowds to dodge. That was definitely a nostalgia moment, where we wished that was possible again – we were longing for the past. Conversely, we looked back at trips we've taken to nice ryokan, and that's more of a natsukashii vibe where we look back in a happy way, not a sadly wistful one.

If your native language is one other than English, what's the closest word you have for nostalgia/natsukashii? Do you think your mother tongue's term for it has a more happy or sad feeling to it?