theres only one japanese song that topped american billboard back in the 1963, even with its status as the second largest music industry in the world, countless talented musician, wide array of distinct genres and long history of music culture thanks to their confusing copyright law and lack of interest to expand overseas its difficult for japanese musician to achieve international success but south east asia always been a special region for japanese musician for decades, casiopea, mayumi itsuwa, smap and many more, my auntie is a huge fan of akina nakamori japanese idol back in the 80s

Thank you for your story of Fuji Kaze. I was very curious about him as I only discovered him a year ago. I love his music and watching him perform live is even better because you can see how happy he is when performing. He is a gift to the world.

I found Kirari randomly on youtube recommendations & honestly it's a big hook for me to look into his discography and discover his other songs. What striked me the most is the lyrics that he wrote, it felt genuine. When I watch his Asia tour, I'm very surprised that there were A LOT of Japanese people attending the concert even though it's in Indonesia. I know that he's big in Japan, but I didn't expect that it would be this big! I was seating next to a Japanese family and I can see that they really enjoyed the concert, it was a really good experience!

I saw a show clip that Rin cries and cleans the eyes quilcky. I think that she's thinking how long the group went after the "dark days of fight". It's so pretty to see they having the success that they fight to gain, AG deserved because the wonderful talent !

these tracks are so refreshing from the typical Western Christmas songs I hear every year

I laughed so hard when chay came up. I got into Japanese music via Terrace House rather than anime. I was initially horrified at the Japanese idol industry when I wanted to find out more about the group Kitahara Rie was in, AKB48, and watched the documentary Tokyo Idol. I began following the chica idol scene thereafter primarily to monitor the obvious problems with the business but developed a more nuanced opinion of the scene in doing so. I've made a KZbin playlist of your list of songs, but I know that a link will be trapped in your moderation queue. Let me know if you want the link, and I'll post it in a reply.

This is such a good list, I'm glad it didn't include songs that I personally consider to be "christmas classics" like Boa's meri kuri or Gackt's 12gatsu no love song. I think Jpop has also kind of perfected the art of "winter ballads" because I can also think of songs like Koda Kumi's you or Ayu's Carols that you could listen to before christmas and think "oh that fits," but are also just generally wintery ballads. I don't see the same sensation in western music!

Ngl i just click it because minami sara in the thumbnail. Got some good song recommendation. Thanks.

My favourite band ❤ Thank you for this video! Also if I could give an advice, maybe you should speak with a more enthousiastic and dynamic voice, it's very monotonous to be honest 😅

Another great video!

Kaze is goated

Been a fan since his Shiina Ringo and Tokyo Jihen covers. Sadly, can't afford tickets when he finally performed in our country.

Garden randomly popped up in my discovery weekly last year, and I’ve been a fan since then!

I'm glad i saw him perform live last week here in the Philippines.

I am afraid that the omnipresent lyricism in his music will be partially dimmed when trying to compose in another language different from his own. He will certainly be successful singing his songs in English because he is a great musician and speaks English well, but I am not so certain that the final product will be exactly at the same level of mastery that he has accustomed us to. Songs have souls of their own that dictate the effect they have in those who are listening: that miracle consistently occurs despite and beyond languages. As a person who lives and functions in a world that speaks a language different from her maternal one, I can assure you that there are nuances in the human experience that are told way better in our maternal tongue. If I were Kaze, I would continue writing songs in Japanese, or in his local dialect because it doesn’t matter. I bet that many of us would continue listening to his music sang in a language that we don’t understand because it really, really doesn’t matter!!!

My glorious king

Mr.Fujii Kaze is A Legend Musician of The Millennium Era. His Music is Pure Genius. I firmly believe it and His music really convinces me, how multi-talented this person is. By listening his songs, i'm learning Japanese now and feel so lucky. Viva Fujii Kaze🎉🍀♾

that explains why his asia tour starts in south east asia first :D so glad to have attended his show in KL it was so lit :D hope it comes to KL and asia again next year

I recently saw him during his Manila stop of his tour, and it's insane how he's even better live. Can't wait for your Sheena Ringo video!

wow, I'll wait for sheena ringo video!

Hi, Thanks for the video!! I would like to add something though: While The Best album does sound like a cash grab (lol), in the documentary show he had with NHK released in October, he did talk in-depth how he wants to challenge himself by writing an all-English album since he's now signed the Republic Records to further walk into the global spotlight, but he's still in the progress in writing his music because he put such high standards on himself (he never compromises on the quality nor the meaning of every single of his songs, and English is not his mother tongue after all). The Nissan stadium tour and Asia tour this year were supposed to be his new album tour but since his album is nowhere around complete yet but the dates are booked already, he needed to make a theme for these booked dates thus it's Feelin' G(o)od for the stadium tour and a showcase for his best songs so far for the Asia tour. Hope this info helps? (Watching the documentaries NHK did for him is really helping to know more about him but unfortunately I don't know if these shows have English subs around the internet because I can understand Japanese and don't need subs ;_;)

愛ある素敵な動画を作ってくれてありがとう！ 彼が高校を卒業してKZbinを再開した頃からのファンです。 デビュー前のライブ チケットが人気すぎて数分でsold outになり、やっと当たったチケットもコロナが始まり中止なるなどしましたが、武道館コンサートが当たりやっと行けました。 風くんの優しいピアノ演奏が始まったら感動で涙がでました。 今もファンから会費を取らず奉仕してくれるなんて本当に嬉しいです。 これからもずっと風くんを応援します。

I missed when he was in NY and it makes my heart so sad!

His rise to stardom is pretty fast it seems, but he definitely deserves it 👌 His work has d uniqueness that i think music industry these days is missing

I discovered him during the pandemic on Instagram... Really life changing. Hope he became famous enough to come to Eastern Europe too<3 WowW Romania was first in Europe fo shinunoga ewa. I did not expect

ありがとう!!!❤🎉

Thank you for this video❤. I ❤ 藤井 風さん❤ His songs make me inspired to be a good human better again and love myself again❤

This is amazing❤

🌻🍀🍊🐘Thank you for being with me since piano classes....

Wow I had no idea of the journey behind the rise and the heights in popularity he actually reached. I only consumed his occasional hits that comes with a wave of covers and the free covid and tiny desk lives. I'm actually interested in his other works now, might check out the albums. Also, I'm keeping a look out for the Sheena Ringo video

I only found Fujii Kaze recently from the "Tiny Desk Concert Japan" video. I have been consistently listening to his music since then; he is probably my favourite Japanese Artist at the moment.

3:30

Thank You 🦊 .

Thank You 🦊 .

Tatsuya kitani chiharu is my oick for an underrated song

Great video as always, I love this channel. Sheena ringo's my favourite japanese artist, looking forward to a video about her!!

This without a doubt is the best story cover video on KZbin. You really did a great job kushun-san, also can i just say your storytelling is immaculate. As for Fuji kaze, he is a music genius and a genius outside of music cause I have never seen someone capitalise on a songs success as Fuji Kaze did with Shinunoga e-wa (maybe it's the label) like i dont think we have ever a Japanese song have this much success internationally. And lastly, Kushun-san I know this is the last video for 2024, so I just wanted to say Thank you for making this an amazing year. And I hope 2025 will be another good year for j-pop, amazing recaps, j-pop talks, anisong talks and maybe some new concepts 👀. Wait...Did u just tease a Sheena Ringo story video????!!!!!

I'm really surprised that Shinunoga E-Wa wasn't popular after it's initial release, I guess from a now perspective it makes sense with all the edits and stuff but maybe it wwasn't the style. Also the effort you put into these videos are so goated, like how did you find a graph of the song's popularity lol and like edits etc. I also liked your final message about his name and how he's true to his culture and not conform to westernized standards to attract international audiences, its really interesting. I can't wait for the next video. :DDD

Holy fucking shit... I'm a mess rn. I randomly fell on a tribute video 2 hours ago featuring Mikazuki. I listened to it a bunch of times, read the lyrics, connected with it waaay too much... and read about basically her whole life rn. I literally had no idea who she was two hours ago but I'm kinda feeling devastated because no matter which song I listen to, I can feel her raw emotions, her sharing the struggles that I have and have had my whole life.... I really hope she found peace and a form of happiness in those last years, somehow... No matter which song I check, I get hit with all the struggles with self-love, depression and whatnot. Also her voice on any video I see is just so raw and full of emotion, despite being stressed or scared at times. She was such a badass. Anyway.... I'm a complete mess rn. Mikazuki is an awesome song but such a painful listen, I relate to the lyrics a bit too much. I hope she at least didn't struggle as much with self-image towards the end :(

I downloaded a playlist of the most listened-to songs in Tokyo when I was flying to Japan last December and started listening to get a better notion of what was popular at the moment. That's how I discovered tuki. I was surprised by how well she sings; I've fallen in love with her voice, lyrics and musical composition since then. She has been one of my most listened-to artist this year, and my most listened-to song this year has been "Bansanka" with 230 listens so far.. I'm in love with her music <3