At the very last minute, Billie Eilish told the world she would have two of Japan’s biggest stars as a surprise guest performers for her Tokyo Hit Me Hard and Soft tour: Fujii Kaze and Yoasobi.
With only two days to spare, I dropped all plans to attend Summer Sonic to go see the once in a lifetime crossover of Fujii Kaze and Billie Eilish.
Why Kaze?
Kaze is one of Japan’s biggest young stars. He is a long time huge fan of Billie Eilish. He covered Bad Guy a while back on YouTube. On his Instagram story, he made a joke about “taking out his Invisalign”.
Billie has been a big influence and inspiration for Kaze in his America debut (he signed with Republic Records this year!). This is a “life come full circle” moment for Kaze, so I hauled my parasocial a** to Saitama to go see it in real life and celebrate his win.
The Concert
The concert was at Saitama Super Arena. This was my second time going to an arena live in Japan. I had been to Tokyo Dome before, but I liked this stadium A LOT more! The stage had a 360 surrounding view of the artist and audience, unlike when I saw RHCP and was in row 10,000 from a one sided stage.
After getting there early, I met up with a friend and hit the merch line. There was a great selection of merch including a Tokyo limited hoodie.
Billie fittingly brought back her 2019 Takashi Murakami collabs from “you should see me in a crown”.
The merch line wasn’t too bad, only about a 30 minute wait, but a lot of it was already sold out even though I showed up early.
After getting the Murakami Pin and Game Tee, I walked around the venue to see everyone’s concert outfits. Tons of people were wearing baggy clothing, ties, jerseys, glasses, and all the cool Billie fashion.
There were Kaze outfits, too, which were mostly button up Hawaiian T-shirts and bucket hats. It’s been funny to watch Kaze’s fashion go from India to California in the past year or two, and it was reflected in his fan’s fashion.
Restaurants nearby were playing Billie, Yoasobi, and Kaze songs, like this one here that reads “come inside, we are playing billie-chan, fujii kaze and yoasobi!“
Kaze on Stage
Kaze came on stage first. He started off strong with Matsuri. The Kaze front row crowd was older, and I was standing next to a lady in her 50s who was crying, shouting, and clapping for Kaze harder than anyone else.
I’m not a big fan of stadium concerts because of how distant and cold they feel. The thought of fitting thousands of people into a room and watching an artist far away from a screen isn’t really my cup of tea. Kaze is a huge artist nowadays – his shows sell out immediately and in Japan, he only plays arenas. I gave up on seeing him live.
But…. this was totally different. Both Billie and Kaze have the wonderful talent to make intimate moments with their music. They ran around the stage 360 to give all their fans a chance to see their faces, and Billie even went down to give high fives to the crowd. Kaze shined with his brutally Kaze-esque, funny and completely unserious crowd banter.
Kaze and Billie did not go on stage at the same time, but Kaze joked “Hi, I am Billie Eilish” and did a quick cover of “bitches broken hearts”. He kept apologizing and said “this is the longest opening show ever, I am so sorry!”
Kaze is an amazing performer.
Kaze literally did not miss a beat. I knew he was an amazing musician, but getting to see his flow state in real life was worth the trek to Saitama. Kaze and his piano melted into one, and I didn’t know where the piano stopped and Kaze began.
It was incredible to see a “pop star” dance and crank the charisma to 100 while hammering away on a classical instrument like Beethoven. (yes, I am a Kaze simp, but I promise I’m not being biased here)
Kaze’s set showed off his skills speaking in a foreign language, playing the saxophone and piano, dancing, cracking jokes, running around the stage and connecting with fans… that is one amazingly talented guy.
Billie’s Turn
Kaze’s opener lasted for nearly an hour, and then Billie came on stage. The crowd was full of great energy and sang and danced along to her set the entire time. “Guess” with Charli XCX got the most hype and Billie’s line about Tokyo made the arena go wild.
Billie spoke about how much she loved coming to Japan, and how she first visited when she was around 15 years old. She reflected on her growth as a person and artist, and was thankful for having “friends 6,000 miles away from her home in America”.
My favorite part was when she performed “when the party’s over”. She was building her harmony stack and asked the crowd to be completely quiet. The way she spoke slowly and clearly so that even people who weren’t native English speakers could understand was very sweet, and it made an intimate moment in the huge arena.
Billie also hosted a pop-up for her fragrance in Tokyo while she was here.
I didn’t get to go, but I saw a lot of posters for it around Shibuya.
Billie signed autographs after arriving to the airport.
It was a very special moment for those living in Japan. US artists only visit Japan every few years, if ever, so the arrival of a major foreign artist is unforgettable and an event to be celebrated all across Tokyo.
My phone got pickpocketed (lol) the other day so I am extra low on photos this time, but I am still glad to be able to write this for the memories. I wore my tour shirt out a few times this week and I met four other people in the wild who went to the concert!
Nothing but respect for both Kaze and Billie for being their authentic selves and creating such beautiful moments. It was a tender moment for both artists, as they both have an international connection to Japan and America.
The concert was an amazing experience and, there is even some rumors Billie and Kaze will be writing a song together….. we shall see.
Kaze’s album Prema comes out next week, on September 5th. Excited to see where he goes next!!!!!!
Until next time ❤
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