Many people love K-Pop, but J-Pop is pretty cool, too. Let me tell you a bit about a new J-Pop star.

His name is Fujii Kaze. He has been active since 2020. He was born in Satosyou, a small town in Okayama Prefecture. Influenced by his music loving father, he grew up listening to all kinds of music – classical, rock, jazz, Japanese country music, etc. When he was 12 years old, he uploaded his piano performance on YouTube which became viral. After graduating from high school, he seriously began posting on YouTube.

You can still watch his performances before and after he became well-known. Let me recommend a particularly impressive video on YouTube. It’s called mash up “come again.” Fujii uses a Japanese song called come again as the base and arranges parts of American tunes call me maybe, shape of love, and super bass to create a whole piece. He also shows his incredible rap skills. In addition, he speaks fluent English even though he has never studied abroad.

He is a singer-songwriter as well. I particularly like “Kirari” (Sparkle) and “Kaerou” (Let’s Go Home). “Kirari” is full of groove, and Fujii shows complex technique including his wide vocal range and sophisticated chord progressions.

In “Kaerou”, he delivers a gentle message of “don’t fear death” to elderly people with utmost respect. His music is multi-dimensional yet has no particular genre nor age specific audience.

His father had wanted Fujii to become a professional pianist. In addition to his excellent skills as a pianist, he writes and arranges songs. Not only is he admired by a large number of professional musicians, he is strikingly handsome and tall!

I hope you have a chance to listen to his music on YouTube. Also, tell me about your favorite artists in your country.