The xx, Khruangbin and Massive Attack are set to headline Fuji Rock Festival this weekend. But don’t be surprised if Kaze Fujii steals the spotlight.
Held annually at Naeba Ski Resort in Niigata Prefecture, Japan’s premier summer music festival has increasingly embraced homegrown stars alongside its international lineup. Last year, city pop legend Tatsuro Yamashita transformed the main Green Stage into the weekend’s hottest destination ahead of U.S. headliner Vulfpeck. Fujii looks poised for a similarly defining moment this Saturday.
Shortly after this year’s lineup was announced in February, Fuji Rock’s website briefly crashed due to a surge of visitors. Festival organizers later suggested in an interview with Rolling Stone Japan that the overwhelming amount of online traffic was driven by Fujii fans. Three-day passes and one-day tickets for Saturday sold out in late May, fueling expectations that Fujii followers will pack the Green Stage from the front rail to the forest edge.