J-pop star Fujii Kaze credits L.A. with reviving his music after burnout

Fujii Kaze comes across a bit shy at first, but after he gets comfortable, his quirky sense of humor and high cheekbones evoke a slightly subdued Jack Sparrow.

The relaxed tone in his voice matches his comfy clothing, punctuated by cool accessories — a chic pair of third-eye sunglasses and sandals. For the cover photo of his latest album, Kaze wears a long head covering draped over his bleached blond locks. The one he came in today was sewn by his mom.

Last month, the 28-year-old Japanese singer-songwriter sold out his show at the Greek Theatre ahead of the launch of his long-awaited new album, the nine-track “Prema,” which was released Friday, his first full-length release since signing to Republic Records last year.

He seems happy to return to a place where he feels a strong connection, having spent five months recording and touring in L.A. from late 2023 to the summer of 2024. He also spent some time in the city about three years ago during a creative lull.

“Lyrically and musically, I did everything I could do,” he specifies. “ I was kind of burned out at the time. And that’s when they took me to Los Angeles. I don’t know why, but this place was so inspiring.”

First taking off in his home country, Kaze (he follows the traditional Japanese order of using family name first) rose to worldwide fame when “Shinunoga E-wa,” a B-side release from his debut album, “Help Ever, Hurt Never,” went viral on TikTok.

It has since racked up more than 253 million views on YouTube and over 287 million Spotify streams. Last year, he became the first artist to launch NPR’s inaugural Tiny Desk Concerts Japan, a performance that received over 21 million views. His solo headlining show at Nissan Stadium last year drew over 100,000 people over two days.

Unlike most of Japan’s current global artists, Kaze’s popularity is not primarily drawn from anime tie-ins, notes J-pop YouTuber Kushun in his minidocumentary on the artist, drawing a parallel between his success with “Shinunoga E-wa” and “Ue o Muite Arukō,” also known as “Sukiyaki,” by Kyu Sakamoto, the only Japanese song to top the American Billboard charts back in 1963.

You wouldn’t know all this from his unassuming demeanor. Valuing in-person connection he has a love-hate relationship with social media, despite rising to fame fueled by Gen Z platforms.

And while plenty of 20-somethings were in attendance, the audience at the Greek was also filled with people who remember record stores and big album rollouts, and some even brought their kids.

“I basically love all generations of people, I love kids, and I really love my parents,” he said, mulling over his cross-generational appeal.

His parents, in particular his father who was an aspiring jazz musician, loom large as inspiration. “My older brother is 13 years older than me, so, basically, I grew up with people across a wide generation, and I always want to please my parents.”

Part of his appeal lies in his ability to take from his multigenerational upbringing and balance it with a current sensibility. His voice has an on-trend soothing quality, lending itself to music that is iconoclastic yet classic — rooted in his early influences, especially American R&B and soul, and interspersed with Japanese elements.

“I think he’s a really incredible musician,” said Meredith Edmonds, a 20-something entertainment exec who attended Kaze’s Greek Theatre performance. “It’s not just about his lyrics but also the fact that he plays multiple instruments. You can tell that he loves it … he is just kind of silly and fun and is not afraid to be completely himself.”

“American festivals, [they] kind of liberated me,” Kaze said. “There are people who don’t know about me, and that makes me feel free … which makes me want to fight to get them to notice me.”

(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

After releasing a series of standalone singles, he embarked on a 2025 summer tour playing European jazz festivals at Montreux and North Sea, and a North American tour bigger than his first. He also made his debut at landmark U.S. summer festivals. He returns to the U.S. in October for a series of dates to close out the American leg of his 2025 tour.

The North Sea Jazz Festival was intimidating. (He blames Erykah Badu for this.) “I saw her on YouTube or something, and she was mind-blowing, oh, otherworldly. She made me nervous,” he said. Montreux was slightly less so and felt like a “one-man show,” while Lollapalooza and Outside Lands were stimulating.

“I think I can be more aggressive, kind of wild, especially on the festival stage, rather than my own show or something. Because … especially American festivals, [they] kind of liberated me. There are people who don’t know about me, and that makes me feel free. They can just pass me by or something, which makes me want to fight to get them to notice me.”

His career trajectory reads like a fairy tale as he first came to public attention with YouTube piano performances recorded at his childhood home in Satoshō, a small rural town in Okayama prefecture. Among his oldest videos still online is one of a precocious 12-year-old Kaze playing his electric piano. Only the dark shades he sports and a wry half-smile hint at the performer to come.

In fact, he has no memories without the piano, a constant companion since he was 3. “I remember, the score, the musical score, was turning black because of all the pencils from my teacher … he [the piano] has been there all my life,” Kaze said. “I don’t know why he’s there, but one thing’s for sure: I’m very thankful for him. Because without him, I couldn’t make music.”

“I want it to be simple and clean … it purifies me, writing in English. It makes my vision and feelings clearer. So I really love the process,” Kaze said.

(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

He has sung in English for years, covering a head-spinning array of American and British artists from the Carpenters to Lizzo. However, “Prema” marks his first attempt at writing songs of his own in English, his second language, a challenge he has taken head-on.

It’s a bold but hard-earned move considering he is known for his lyricism in Japanese, tackling themes as deep and broad as mortality, forms of love, greater meaning and gratitude.

“My lyrics have never been very poetic,” he counters. “I would say they’re kind of straightforward, especially recently, my Japanese lyrics are getting simpler. I want it to be simple and clean … it purifies me, writing in English. It makes my vision and feelings clearer. So I really love the process.”

Two songs from the nine-track “Prema,” which means “all-encompassing love” in Sanskrit, were released earlier this year: the bouncy, Jamiroquai-like “Hāchiko,” rooted in Japanese folklore, and the soaring yacht-rock love ballad “Love Like This.” The accompanying videos are characteristically visually stunning. He has often collaborated with Mesudayuma (MESS), but on the French Riviera-themed “Love Like This” (his first as a romantic lead), he turned to L.A.-based director Aerin Moreno.

Faith is a recurring theme in his work, and it surfaces particularly in older songs like “Hana” and “Grace,” but when pressed, he doesn’t elaborate on a particular dogma, and his manager politely intervened before he could get too far on the subject. The new album continues referencing his spirituality.

“Prema,” a lightly funky uptempo ballad a la Michael McDonald, is perhaps his most direct expression as he declares in the chorus: “Prema, don’t you know you are love itself / Can’t you see that you are God itself.” “Prema is 100% me,” he said. “Because I finished writing the song all by myself. And the lyrics are kind of hip-hop-influenced, like I’m boasting, but in a spiritual way.”

“I want to thank Los Angeles overall, because when I was burned out and had no inspiration, L.A. vibes, the weather, the air, the people helped me a lot to move on as a musician,” Kaze said. “So, I’m very thankful for Los Angeles.”

(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

Kaze further challenged himself on this project by working with an array of producers: Americans Shy Carter, Dan Wilson and Rob Bisel (he’s worked with Bisel before), Nolan Lambroza (a.k.a. Sir Nolan) and Greg Kurstin, as well as Canadian Tobias Jesso Jr. Aiming for a classic 1980s through early-2000s sound, he cites Michael and Janet Jackson as influences for the type of impact he was aiming for.

A fan of albums, he wanted every song to be a potential hit single. Helping with this goal was noted Korean DJ/producer 250, the only producer to work on all nine tracks. “I wanted to show the world the power of Asia as well,” Kaze said of 250, who is Korean.

Reached by email, 250 — best known for his work with the girl group New Jeans — talked about his goal for “Prema.” “I wanted to give a sense of consistency, a narrative thread that runs naturally from the first track all the way to the last,” the producer said. They worked closely together on initial production at House of Refuge on Jeju Island, sharing meals as they laid out ideas.

Overall, the album leans heavily toward the late ’80s, like in the guitar riff intro of the synth-heavy “I Need U Back,” while the quirky breakup song “Casket Girl” sounds like a slinky backdrop to a hot L.A. summer night.

That might be just fine with Kaze. “I want to thank Los Angeles overall, because when I was burned out and had no inspiration, L.A. vibes, the weather, the air, the people helped me a lot to move on as a musician. So, I’m very thankful for Los Angeles.”