When artists reach national fame, we often wonder whether they'll remember where they came from. In Japan, several of the country's most beloved musicians have found ways to celebrate their hometowns that go far beyond token mentions — from recording messages for regional anniversaries to visiting schools facing closure, and from singing local anthems to simply speaking their native dialects on national television. Mrs. GREEN APPLE's keyboardist Fujisawa Ryoka, singer-songwriter Fujii Kaze, the band Official Higedan, and rock trio back number each express their regional roots in distinctly personal ways that resonate with fans and locals alike.
We've gathered what we know about how these artists show love for the places that shaped them, and why it matters to the communities they come from.
The Quick Version
- Fujisawa Ryoka of Mrs. GREEN APPLE appeared in a commemorative message for Nagano Prefecture's 150th anniversary in 2026, saying his love for Nagano "only deepens as the years go by"
- In November 2025, Fujisawa visited his former schools in Nagano for a television special, including Komoro High School before its final cultural festival due to school reorganization
- Fujii Kaze from Okayama frequently uses his regional dialect and references his rural upbringing in interviews and on social media, positioning himself as "a kid from Okayama" rather than adopting a polished Tokyo persona
- Official Higedan from Shimane returned to their hometown for a 2019 television special called "Higedan Back to Their Hometown," performing hits like "Pretender" in the region where they started
- Back number, formed in Gunma Prefecture, maintains strong ties to their home region where all three members grew up in neighboring cities
Fujisawa Ryoka's Deepening Bond With Nagano
For Fujisawa Ryoka, the keyboardist of Mrs. GREEN APPLE, hometown love isn't just nostalgia — it's something that grows stronger with distance. Born and raised in Nagano Prefecture, specifically connected to both Nagano City and Komoro City, Fujisawa has become one of the region's most recognizable cultural ambassadors. He played flute in the brass band club at Nagano City Yanagimachi Junior High School before attending Komoro High School's music department, and those formative years continue to shape how he talks about his origins.
In a commemorative message movie created for Nagano Prefecture's 150th anniversary in 2026, Fujisawa made his feelings unmistakably clear. "My love for Nagano only deepens as the years go by," he said, adding that he realized the prefecture's true charm more clearly after leaving and living elsewhere. This isn't a one-time statement, either. Coverage from radio programs in 2025 and 2026 highlights how Fujisawa often sings "Shinano no Kuni" ("Country of Shinano"), the Nagano prefectural song, and jokes that he can perform all six verses — a detail that fans and locals cite as proof of his genuine attachment.
In interviews, Fujisawa has explained that while he always liked Nagano, moving to Tokyo made him "even more aware of how good Nagano is," a sentiment that has persisted for roughly 12 years. It's the kind of realization many of us have when we leave home: distance clarifies what we took for granted.
Returning to Schools Facing Change
Fujisawa's hometown connection goes beyond words. In November 2025, he appeared in a special television program on SBC Shin'etsu Broadcasting called "Last Tomo ni! ~Mrs. GREEN APPLE Fujisawa Ryoka kara Kohai-tachi e~" ("Together Until the Last! ~From Mrs. GREEN APPLE Fujisawa Ryoka to His Juniors~"). The program followed him as he visited Nagano City Yanagimachi Junior High School — his former brass band club — and Komoro High School, which was facing reorganization and integration with another school.
The timing was significant. Komoro High School was holding its final cultural festival before the merger, and Fujisawa's visit wasn't just a celebrity appearance — it was a gesture of support for younger students navigating uncertainty and change. He encouraged them as they faced the end of their school's independent history, offering emotional support that went well beyond mere nostalgia for his own school days.
Local Nagano media have also reported on Fujisawa's visits to Zenko-ji Temple in Nagano, where he's described as being visibly happy to return and be recognized as a native son who has achieved national fame. Around 2025, he received a local award (the Shinmai Sen-sho) framed explicitly as recognition for how he communicates his love for Nagano and energizes the prefecture. Fans and residents often refer to him affectionately as "our child" or "grandchild from Nagano," expressing the kind of pride that comes when someone local makes it big without forgetting where they started.
Fujii Kaze's Rural Okayama Roots
While Fujisawa's hometown expression centers on public appearances and ceremonial roles, Fujii Kaze takes a different approach. The singer-songwriter from Okayama Prefecture — specifically from a rural riverside area — has woven his regional identity into his entire public persona. Rather than compartmentalizing his origins into special "homecoming" moments, Fujii Kaze simply refuses to hide where he's from.
He grew up in his father's small piano school in the Okayama countryside, an environment that shaped both his musical development and his grounded personality. In variety show appearances and YouTube content, he regularly speaks in Okayama dialect and makes casual references to his upbringing, presenting himself as "a kid from Okayama" rather than adopting the polished, regionless accent that many Tokyo-based entertainers use. It's an authenticity that resonates with viewers who appreciate that he hasn't tried to sand off his regional edges for broader appeal.
In interviews and live performances, Fujii Kaze frequently expresses gratitude toward his hometown community for allowing him to pursue music from an early age. He's framed his success not as a personal achievement that happened to occur in Okayama, but as something that represents and honors where he came from. During the pandemic, he participated in remote concerts and streaming performances with minimal production, sometimes from countryside locations that implicitly celebrated the quiet, rural atmosphere he grew up in — a stark contrast to the glossy, urban aesthetic many artists favor.
Official Higedan's Shimane Homecoming
Official Higedan (Official HIGE DANDism) approached hometown love through a more traditional format: the homecoming television special. The band, originally formed in Shimane Prefecture in the San'in region, returned to their roots for a 2019 program titled "Higedan Back to Their Hometown." The special followed the band members as they revisited local streets, venues, and the small live houses where they started, performing hits like "Pretender" in a homecoming context.
The program's structure emphasized the contrast between the band's current national success and their modest regional beginnings. For the band and their production company, "returning to their hometown" serves as an important narrative thread, linking their musical identity to the place where they developed their sound. While many of Official Higedan's biggest songs — "Pretender," "I LOVE...," and others — focus on love and relationships rather than geography, the band's origin story frequently returns to those early days playing local venues in their home region.
Some fans and critics interpret the band's emotional, earnest pop style as reflecting a sincerity associated with regional backgrounds rather than the cooler, more ironic stance sometimes associated with Tokyo-based artists. Whether or not the band would explicitly agree with that reading, their willingness to center their hometown in their public narrative suggests they see value in maintaining that connection.
Back Number's Gunma Foundation
Back number, a three-member rock band formed in Gunma Prefecture in 2004, carries their regional identity in a quieter way. Vocalist and guitarist Shimizu Iyori hails from Ota City, while bassist Kojima Kazuya and drummer Kurihara Hisashi are both from neighboring Isesaki City. The band's entire formation happened within this tight geographic cluster in Gunma, and that shared regional background informs their musical partnership.
While back number may not make as many explicit public statements about hometown love as some other artists, their biography is inseparable from where they're from. The fact that all three members come from the same prefecture, forming their band in that region rather than after moving to Tokyo, gives them a different kind of authenticity. They didn't just grow up in Gunma — they became musicians there, developing their sound in the same local context that shaped their adolescence and early adulthood.
For many artists, hometown ties can feel performative or calculated, rolled out for specific PR opportunities. What's striking about back number, Fujisawa Ryoka, Fujii Kaze, and Official Higedan is how organic their regional connections appear. Whether through public appearances at schools, unfiltered use of dialect, homecoming television specials, or simply maintaining their regional formation, each has found a way to honor where they're from that feels genuine rather than obligatory.
Why Hometown Love Matters to Fans and Communities
When nationally famous artists openly celebrate their regional roots, it does something important for the communities they come from. In Japan, where Tokyo's cultural dominance can sometimes feel overwhelming, seeing successful musicians proudly claim Nagano, Okayama, Shimane, or Gunma as formative to their identity sends a powerful message: you don't have to leave your origins behind to succeed, and in fact, those origins might be worth celebrating.
For younger people in these regions — like the students Fujisawa visited at Komoro High School — it matters to see someone who made it big without pretending to be from somewhere else. It validates their own experiences and suggests that regional identity isn't something to outgrow but something that can enrich an artistic voice. Local residents, meanwhile, feel a justified pride when artists they've watched grow up continue to acknowledge and honor their hometowns even after achieving national fame.
We also see how distance changes the relationship with home. Fujisawa's comment that his love for Nagano has deepened over the years, and that moving away helped him appreciate it more clearly, rings true for many of us. Sometimes we need to leave to understand what we had, and when artists articulate that realization publicly, it gives the rest of us language for our own experiences of displacement and rediscovery.
What People Are Saying
"Watching Fujisawa visit his old school and talk to the students there was really moving. He didn't just show up for a photo op — he actually seemed to care about what they were going through with the school closing."
— Fan comment on social media
"I love that Fujii Kaze just speaks in dialect and doesn't try to hide it. So many celebrities lose their accent the second they get famous, but he's just himself."
— YouTube comment on a Fujii Kaze interview
"As someone from Nagano, it means so much that Fujisawa keeps coming back and talking about the prefecture. We're really proud of him, and he makes us feel seen."
— Local Nagano resident
"The Higedan homecoming special was great because you could really see how far they've come. Those local venues they started in looked so small compared to the arenas they play now."
— Fan on a music forum
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Fujisawa Ryoka from?
Fujisawa Ryoka, the keyboardist of Mrs. GREEN APPLE, is from Nagano Prefecture in central Japan. He has connections to both Nagano City and Komoro City, attending junior high school in Nagano City and high school in Komoro.
Did Fujii Kaze grow up in a city or in the countryside?
Fujii Kaze grew up in a rural riverside area of Okayama Prefecture. His father ran a small piano school there, and the countryside environment heavily influenced his musical development and personal style.
When did Official Higedan do their hometown television special?
Official Higedan's homecoming television special, called "Higedan Back to Their Hometown," aired in 2019. The program followed the band as they returned to Shimane Prefecture and performed in the region where they originally formed.
What is the Nagano prefectural song that Fujisawa sings?
The song is called "Shinano no Kuni" ("Country of Shinano"), and it's the official prefectural song of Nagano. Fujisawa has mentioned that he can sing all six verses, which he cites as evidence of his deep connection to the region.
Are all three members of back number from the same prefecture?
Yes, all three members of back number are from Gunma Prefecture. Shimizu Iyori is from Ota City, while Kojima Kazuya and Kurihara Hisashi are both from Isesaki City. They formed the band in Gunma in 2004.
The Personal and the Regional
What we see across these artists is that hometown love takes many forms, from formal commemorative appearances to the simple act of speaking in your natural accent. Fujisawa Ryoka's visits to schools, Fujii Kaze's unfiltered dialect, Official Higedan's homecoming television special, and back number's Gunma roots all represent different ways of staying connected to the places that shaped these musicians before fame arrived.
For fans, these expressions of regional pride offer something valuable: a reminder that success doesn't require erasing where you came from, and that the places we're from continue to matter even after we've moved on. As Fujisawa said about Nagano, sometimes our love for home only deepens with time and distance — and when artists share that evolution publicly, it helps the rest of us make sense of our own complicated relationships with the places we call home.
