By Skylar Paxton
Japanese music has paved a space for themselves internationally for a while now. With the rising popularity of anime, music within those shows have gained traction by watchers everywhere. However, one particular song not associated with an anime has been globally heard everywhere and that is “Shinunoga E-Wa” by Fuji Kaze.
From Okayama, Japan, Kaze started his endeavors in music publicly when he posted song covers, both English and Japanese, on YouTube. After releasing his debut album HELP EVER HURT NEVER, his music caught the attention of many in Japan. Songs from his album such as “Nan-Nan”, “Mo-Eh-Wa”, and “SAYONARA Baby” were uniquely sung in his Okayama dialect. As for “Shinunoga E-Wa”, it got recognized globally when the song blew up on TikTok. Since then, the live performance of the song on YouTube has reached over 40 million views.
There is something incredibly captivating about “Shinunoga E-Wa” and the way Kaze sings his masterpiece. It is probably why it has reached global popularity solely on its own accord. This in itself marks how successful the song is as most Japanese songs have reached global audiences when tied to an anime show. Something like this hasn’t been done since Utada Hikaru who’s debut album also became best-selling in Japan and received international attention. What is it, however, that makes “Shinunoga E-Wa” so special?
To understand the captivation of the song, we have to look back at the performance video that made it rise to fame. In the video, the song starts off with Kaze playing the piano in a magnificent symphony. He intensely plays the instrument and the sounds coming off of the piano can only be described as aggressively passionate. After some slow peaks, Kaze plays the piano in a jazzy rhythm which he escalates and then quickly de-escalates to the gentle chord progression that begins in “Shinunoga E-Wa”.
The song itself is a love song where the singer claims that he cannot live or do anything without his lover. The first verse of the song goes, “Pinky swear, if I do tell a lie / I’m willing to swallow needles or anything on Monday / It doesn’t matter if it’s Sunday”. Pinky swear or “yubikiri genman” is a youthful phrase used by youth to make a promise. In Japan, the phrase is usually followed up by “hari demo nan demo nomasete itadaki mande” which means “I am willing to swallow needles or anything”. Kaze makes the last word “mande” as “monday” and rhymes it with the english “sunday” in the following verse. It’s a unique play on words with both Japanese and English writing.
The rest of the verses maintain its theme of the lovesong where the singer exaggerates the absolute need for his lover. It focuses on how the lover is far away from them and how while loving them from a long distance relationship is challenging, they still want to continue caring and loving for them as usual. The lyrics working alongside the dramatic yet rhythmic sounds of the song makes “Shinunoga E-Wa” enticing to listen to.
When Kaze finishes the second chorus, he sings in riffs and an almost jazz-like scat that grows into a higher key of the chorus. This part of the song has been specifically reposted multiple times on TikTok for Kaze’s impressive range and how musically enticing the climax of the song is. Kaze passionately looks forward with such seriousness stoicism as he sings this part – thus adding to the magic his song carries.
“Shinunoga E-Wa” is a brilliant song that has caught the attention of many for good reason. The uniqueness of its sound, brilliance in its lyrics, and enticing performance has led Kaze to be recognized as an artist with global listeners full of adornment. Despite the language barrier for non-Japanese fans, the special song still captivates us to want more out of the fresh and upcoming Fujii Kaze.
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