Fujii Kaze: Tiny Desk Concerts JAPAN

Published April 13, 2024, 12:01 p.m. by Naomi Charles

Suraya Mohamed | April 12, 2024

In the corner of a busy office at the NHK Broadcasting Center in Shibuya, Tokyo, a staffer rearranged books, vinyl records and tchotchkes on a bright red shelving unit. The production crew double-checked equipment settings and made small adjustments to the lighting. Another worker added a few more posters to the tall white file cabinets. Cameras were set and microphones were ready because Fujii Kaze and his band had just rehearsed the night before. Everyone in the room — including a few of us from npr that were there to help — was eager and excited because the very first performance for Tiny Desk Concerts JAPAN was about to start.

Popular around the world, the talented Fujii Kaze is a Japanese singer and pianist known for his sultry R&B grooves and catchy songwriting. His adventurous spirit was strong as he settled into the Tiny Desk way — a concert that's intimate, mostly acoustic and recorded without reverb, effects, in-ear monitors or wedges. During the rehearsal, the band quickly acclimated to the environment and adjusted instrument volumes to hear each other better. The end result was a beautiful 30 minute set, captured without pause and with no stops, restarts or retakes.

This video is part of the second international version of Tiny Desk, a joint venture between npr and The Japan Broadcasting Corporation (NHK) — the sole public media organization in Japan that is operated with the purpose of providing the latest news, education and culture both domestically and internationally. This new series will spotlight emerging and established Japanese artists with the same engaged performances, look and feel of the original Tiny Desk Concerts series.