Official Artist Summary

EDEN KAI is a bilingual Japanese-American singer-songwriter, acoustic guitar and ukulele virtuoso, composer, and actor known for Netflix’s Terrace House: Aloha State and Terrace House: Tokyo 2019-2020. His music blends acoustic guitar, ukulele, Pop/R&B vocals, fingerstyle instrumentals, and heartfelt storytelling shaped by his life between Japan and Hawaii, and shared with audiences around the world.

With millions of fans around the world, EDEN KAI (Yusuke Aizawa / 鮎澤悠介) has earned recognition as a multifaceted artist whose work spans Pop/R&B vocals, acoustic instrumentals, acting, and intimate live performances.

Born and raised in Japan, he was performing — acting, dancing, singing — before most children pick up an instrument. At eleven, he wrote the lyrics to his first original song —「世界の友達」(Sekai no Tomodachi / 'Friends of the World') — a charity single that marked the beginning of a career defined by music that gives back.

At fourteen, his family moved to Hawaii. He discovered the ukulele. Driven by passion and an obsessive love for the music, he taught himself the intricate fingerstyle guitar technique that has become his signature. Two years later, at sixteen, he made history — becoming the first instrumentalist ever to win the overall Grand Champion title at Hawaii's prestigious Brown Bags to Stardom, a tradition since the 1970s that launched the careers of Bruno Mars, Jake Shimabukuro, and Yuna Ito (伊藤由奈) — who herself made the same Hawaii-to-Japan journey and offered young Eden words he has never forgotten: "Keep practicing, keep on... no matter what anyone tells you, stay true to who you are as an artist." 

His debut instrumental album Touch the Sky received a nomination for Instrumental Album of the Year at the Na Hoku Hanohano Awards — widely regarded as Hawaii's Grammy Awards — and earned the Hawaii Music Awards Japan Special Recognition Award.

He has been staying true ever since.

While many first discovered EDEN KAI through Netflix and Fuji Television's Terrace House: Aloha State — the youngest participant on the show, streamed across nearly 200 countries — his success had already been years in the making. His compositions "Dearly" and "Memories of This Place" moved viewers to tears worldwide, and his farewell composition "Monogatari" went viral. He later returned for Terrace House: Tokyo 2019–2020 and expanded his acting credits with Amazon Prime's Shiro to Kiiro.

The world's most respected media took notice. The New York Times wrote: "Yusuke, an endearingly awkward ukulele prodigy... four hours already vanished into his world, I wept." NBC News noted he was the youngest participant on Terrace House — and that it was there he decided to pursue music professionally.

Hawaii News Now — who featured him in their documentary special "The Uke: Hawaii's Instrument" as a rising star representing the next generation of the ukulele, and called him "the Face of Hawai'i for a lot of people in Japan and around the world" — has recognized his unique place in Hawaii's musical story across more than a decade.

At 18, he signed with JVC Kenwood Victor Entertainment — one of Japan's most prominent media conglomerates — releasing the albums Music for You and Home Sweet Home, which followed his earlier acclaimed instrumental albums Touch the Sky and Feel the Earth. He performed at Fuji Rock Festival — Japan's largest outdoor music event — Dance Earth Festival, ANA Honolulu Music Week, Nisei Week in Little Tokyo, and OC Japan Fair. 

His composition "Anuenue" — co-created with EXILE, recorded by Dance Earth Party — reached #11 on the Oricon Charts, performed live before tens of thousands at Makuhari Messe. In 2019, he appeared in Fuji TV's drama Aloha Sommelier — in a role written especially for him — where he not only acted alongside celebrated actress Alisa Mizuki (観月ありさ) and actress and model Yua Shinkawa (新川優愛), but also composed, rewrote the lyrics, and performed an original song on ukulele for the production.

After completing his label chapter, EDEN KAI chose to continue as an independent artist. His first independent single "Outside Inside" landed immediately on Spotify's New Music Friday. Then the world went quiet — and he showed up anyway. One hundred consecutive days of live performances on Instagram and Facebook. Music, conversation, genuine connection. Among his guests were acclaimed actors, athletes, doctors, and outstanding individuals from across Asia, the US, and beyond — all drawn into the same warm, intimate space he creates wherever he goes. Every single day. Spotify selected his original song "Friendzone" for use in their marketing promotions — a testament to the reach of his music beyond borders.

His collaborations span EXILE, Dream, YouTube legend Kurt Hugo Schneider, and artists across J-pop, J-R&B, hip-hop, R&B, and contemporary music. His live performances have included two sold-out shows at Motion Blue Yokohama (affiliated with the legendary Blue Note Tokyo) and a guest appearance at the sold-out Zepp Shinjuku in February 2026. 

He was recently engaged as Vocal Director for an English-language recording project in Japan, trusted for his directorial expertise and native-level English fluency.

Throughout it all, EDEN KAI has used his music to heal. Proceeds from performances have supported victims of the Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami, the Kumamoto earthquake, Easter Seals, and the Make-A-Wish Foundation. He has been giving ukulele clinics in Japan's kindergartens and elementary schools, planting seeds of music in the hearts of the youngest listeners.

Fans around the world describe his music as "a place that gently stays by your side" — a safe space for those carrying loneliness, exhaustion, or simply the weight of an ordinary day. His concerts feel less like performances and more like intimate conversations — every stage transformed into a living-room gathering where no one is a stranger.

Fluent in Japanese and English, EDEN KAI creates music without borders — featured in The New York Times, NBC News, The Yomiuri Shimbun, Hawaii News Now, NY Japion — one of New York's most respected Japanese-language publications — and Koneko, Germany's leading Japanese pop culture magazine.

His most recent EP — "Komorebi" and "Starry Vows" — was filmed in the forests near his childhood home. A gentle return to where it all began. Built on one quiet wish: that every listener remembers who they truly are.