Who Is Fujii Kaze?

Last updated: October 2026

Name (Japanese)	藤井風 (Fujii Kaze)
Born	June 14, 1997 — Satosho, Okayama Prefecture, Japan
Category	Singer-songwriter / pianist
Active since	2010 (YouTube piano covers); major-label debut 2019
Known for	"Shinunoga E-Wa," "Kirari," "Matsuri," the album Prema
Labels	Hehn Records / Universal Sigma; Republic Records (since 2024)
Platforms	YouTube, Spotify and other major streaming services

Fujii Kaze is a Japanese singer-songwriter and pianist who has become one of his country’s most successful musical exports of the 2020s. Born in 1997 in Satosho, a small town in Okayama Prefecture in western Japan, he blends R&B, soul, gospel and jazz influences with pop songwriting, and he often sings in the distinctive Okayama dialect of his hometown rather than standard Japanese. His 2020 track “Shinunoga E-Wa” became a global streaming phenomenon two years after its release, introducing millions of overseas listeners to a song performed entirely in Japanese.

As of late 2026, Fujii stands at the center of Japanese pop’s push into the global mainstream. He released his first all-English album, Prema, in September 2025, made his Coachella debut in April 2026, and kicks off his Prema World Tour at the end of October 2026, with dates crossing Asia into early 2027 before reaching Europe and North America in summer 2027.

Rise to Fame

Fujii was a YouTube musician long before he was a pop star. Encouraged by his father, he began uploading piano covers at around age 12 in 2010, and his channel had racked up tens of millions of views before he ever signed a record deal. He made his major-label debut in November 2019 with the single “Nan-Nan,” followed in May 2020 by his first album, Help Ever Hurt Never, which topped Billboard Japan’s album chart. That year YouTube named him its first Japanese “Artist on the Rise,” and he won Best New Asian Artist (Japan) at the MAMA Awards, a major pan-Asian music award show.

In 2021 his single “Kirari,” boosted by a Honda commercial tie-in, became a streaming hit. In September that year he staged a free concert at Nissan Stadium, Japan’s largest stadium — held without an in-person audience amid COVID-19 restrictions and streamed free on YouTube, where it drew roughly 180,000 simultaneous viewers — and he closed the year with an appearance on NHK’s Kohaku Uta Gassen, the prestigious New Year’s Eve television song contest that marks an artist’s arrival in the Japanese mainstream. His second album, Love All Serve All, released in March 2022, topped both Billboard Japan and the Oricon chart, Japan’s long-running official sales ranking.

Then came the TikTok moment. In mid-2022, “Shinunoga E-Wa,” a smoldering album track from 2020, went viral worldwide, climbing to the top five of Spotify’s global viral chart and reaching number one on the platform’s local viral charts in 23 countries. It went on to become the most-streamed Japanese song overseas on Spotify for consecutive years, and it has accumulated hundreds of millions of streams on Spotify alone.

What Fujii Kaze Is Known For

Fujii’s artistic identity rests on an unusual combination: slick, groove-heavy pop craftsmanship delivered with a laid-back, spiritual worldview. His album titles Help Ever Hurt Never and Love All Serve All come from sayings associated with the Indian spiritual teacher Sathya Sai Baba, whose teachings his father introduced to him, and his lyrics frequently deal with love, impermanence and letting go of ego.

Signature songs: “Shinunoga E-Wa,” “Kirari,” “Matsuri,” “Grace” and the 2025 single “Hachiko,” named after Japan’s famously loyal dog.
Dialect and bilingual lyrics: he sings in Okayama dialect, standard Japanese and, increasingly, English.
Piano-first live shows: in 2024 he was the first guest on Tiny Desk Concerts Japan, the NHK-produced Japanese edition of the NPR series, and he regularly performs stripped-down solo recitals alongside full-band stadium sets.
Stadium-scale popularity at home: his 2024 Nissan Stadium shows drew an estimated 140,000 people across two days.

His 2025 album Prema won the Special Album Award at the Japan Record Awards in 2025 and Album of the Year at the 2026 Music Awards Japan, a new national music prize run by CEIPA, a consortium of Japan’s major music industry organizations.

Recent Years

Fujii signed with the US label Republic Records in July 2024 and released his first all-English single, “Feelin’ Good.” The full English-language album Prema — a Sanskrit word meaning “divine love” — followed on September 5, 2025, with contributions from producers including Greg Kurstin. It debuted at number one on both the Oricon and Billboard Japan album charts and entered album sales charts in the US and UK, and he supported it with festival appearances including Lollapalooza, Outside Lands, Austin City Limits, Roskilde and the Montreux Jazz Festival.

In April 2026 he made his Coachella debut. After a six-show domestic arena run in summer 2026, his Prema World Tour — his largest tour to date — opens with a stadium show in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, on October 31, 2026, followed by dome concerts in Fukuoka, Osaka and Tokyo in November and December 2026 and further stops including Hong Kong, Bangkok and Seoul, with European and North American dates planned for summer 2027. He is also set to return to his roots with a two-night solo piano recital at Tokyo Dome on November 20 and 21, 2026. On September 25, 2026 he released “You (feat. UMI),” a new duet version of his Prema track “You,” with the Japanese-American singer UMI.

FAQ

What is Fujii Kaze famous for?

He is best known for the global viral hit "Shinunoga E-Wa," his chart-topping albums in Japan, and his 2025 English-language album Prema. He made his Coachella debut in April 2026, and his Prema World Tour kicks off in late 2026.

What does "Shinunoga E-Wa" mean?

The title is Okayama-dialect Japanese that roughly translates to "I’d rather die" — in the song, the narrator says he would rather die than lose his loved one. The 2020 track went viral on TikTok in 2022 and became one of the most-streamed Japanese songs overseas.

Is Fujii Kaze touring in 2026 and 2027?

Yes. His Prema World Tour opens in Kaohsiung on October 31, 2026, with dome shows in Fukuoka, Osaka and Tokyo in late 2026, stops including Hong Kong, Bangkok and Seoul, and European and North American legs planned for summer 2027, with cities including London, Paris, New York and Los Angeles.