The international arm of Japanese broadcaster NHK, NHK World-Japan, is adapting the tiny desk concerts series from American public broadcaster NPR with a platform license. The tiny desk series features artists performing in an intimate setting with acoustics that match the atmosphere. For the inaugural broadcast, Fujii Kaze will be featured on “tiny concerts JAPAN.”
Fujii Kaze is a performer who has been earning accolades domestically and abroad, and those who haven’t heard of him will get their first chance while those familiar with him will hear his music in a new way. I first came across Fujii Kaze through his song “Shinunoga E-Wa.”
Fujii will be bringing his music to a tiny space at the NHK Broadcast Center in Shibuya, Tokyo.
Broadcast times (UTC):
Friday, March 29, 14:30, 20:30
Saturday, March 30, 3:10, 10:10
Wednesday, April 3, 19:00
Fujii Kaze will perform in Los Angeles and New York on May 30 and June 2 as part of his ‘Fujii Kaze And The Piano’ U.S. Tour. In August, he will hold his first concert in Japan in a year and a half at Nissan Stadium. His latest song is “Michi Teyu Ku (Overflowing),”was released on March 15 and written for the movie April, Come She Will.
NHK World-Japan is the international arm of the Japanese public broadcaster NHK with its services aimed at the overseas market, similar to those offered by other national public-service broadcasters, such as the British BBC.
The tiny desk concerts is a format embraced by audiences around the world and has attracted superstars such as Taylor Swift and BTS as well as up-and-coming artists.
About Fujii Kaze
Fujii Kaze is a rising singer songwriter from Japan. He started practicing classical piano when he was little after being influenced by his father. Since he was 12, Kaze uploaded piano covers of popular songs on YouTube, which eventually caught the music industry’s attention and led him to make a label deal.
In May 2020, Kaze released his first album “HELP EVER HURT NEVER” with a message not to hurt anyone but just help, while the world was right in the middle of the pandemic. It reached No. 1 on Billboard Japan’s Hot Album chart and got numerous prestigious awards in Japan. He was selected as YouTube Japan’s first Artist On The Rise and picked for Spotify’s global program, RADAR.
In September 2021, he hosted an aspirational event titled Fujii Kaze “Free” Live 2021 at NISSAN stadium. Hoping to free up people’s minds through his music, Kaze performed just by himself only with a grand piano at the 70,000-capacity stadium without any audience due to Japan’s state of emergency in response to the spread of COVID-19. It was live streamed globally on YouTube and reached over 179,000 peak concurrent views. The event ended up becoming the world’s No. 1 trending topic on Twitter.
In March 2022, Kaze released his second album “LOVE ALL SERVE ALL”. The title is a phrase that he cherishes, which also aligns with the title of his first album. Again, the album reached No. 1 on Billboard Japan’s Hot Album chart and got numerous prestigious awards.
In July 2022, “Shinunoga E-Wa” from his first album went viral in Thailand. With that, the song reached #4 on Spotify’s Global Viral chart, and reached #1 on the platform’s local viral charts in 23 countries including Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Korea, UK, France, Canada, Brazil and Egypt and reached #2 in the US.
In October 2022, he held a stadium show “LOVE ALL SERVE ALL STADIUM LIVE” at Panasonic Stadium Suita in Osaka, this time in front of a live audience and completely sold out at 70,000-capacity. The show is now available on Netflix globally.
From June to July 2023, he held his first 7-city, 11-show tour of Asia, with all shows sold out.
