Kōhaku Uta Gassen


NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen
Presented by Various (see below)
Ending theme Hotaru no hikari
Country of origin Japan
Original language(s) Japanese
No. of episodes 66 contests
Production
Location(s) Tokyo Takarazuka Theater (1959-1972)
NHK Hall (1973-present)
Running time 4 hours 30 minutes
Production company(s) NHK
Release
Original network NHK General TV
NHK Radio 1
NHK World Premium (Worldwide)
Picture format 576i (SDTV) (1953–present)
720p (HDTV) (2005–present)
1080i (HDTV) (2005–present)
4320p (UHDTV) (2005–present)
Original release January 3, 1951 (1951-01-03) – present
External links
Official website

NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen (NHK紅白歌合戦 Enueichikei Kōhaku Uta Gassen), more commonly known as simply Kōhaku, which official translation is "Year-end Song Festival",[1] is an annual music show on New Year's Eve produced by Japanese public broadcaster NHK and broadcast on television and radio, nationally and internationally by the NHK network and by some overseas (mainly cable) broadcasters who buy the program. The show ends shortly before midnight. Before the show began broadcasting on television in late 1953, the show was held on 3 January and only consisted of a radio broadcast.

Literally "Red and White Song Battle", the program divides the most popular music artists of the year into competing teams of red and white. The "red" team or akagumi (赤組, 紅組) is composed of all female artists (or groups with female vocals), while the "white" team or shirogumi (白組) is all male (or groups with male vocals). The honor of performing on Kōhaku is strictly by invitation, so only the most successful singing acts in the Japanese entertainment industry can perform. In addition to the actual music performances, the costumes, hair-styles, makeup, dancing, and lighting are important. Even today, a performance on Kōhaku is said to be a big highlight in a singer's career because of the show's wide reach.

Song selection process

The songs and performers are examined by a selection committee put together by NHK. The basis for selection are record sales and adaptability to the edition's theme.

At the same time, a demographic survey is conducted regarding the most popular singers for each and what kind of music people want to hear. This and the song selection explain the amalgamation of the musical genres and its artists.

There are, however, exceptions to the process. Momoe Yamaguchi chose to sing her favorite song "Hito Natsu no Keiken" (ひと夏の経験) with its suggestive lyrics during the 25th edition, despite NHK's pick of a different song.

Show

The competitors of the 4th Kōhaku Uta Gassen (1953)

When the show was first broadcast on radio in 1951, each team had a few performers, all of whom would perform within an hour. Since 1989, the program goes on for at least four hours as both teams, each having at least 25 performers, perform their songs.

At the end of the show, the audience and a panel of judges—notable celebrities who may or may not have a connection to the music industry—vote to select the winning team. In the past, the audience vote has been composed of a head count of the venue audience members, who can vote for either team (NHK Hall, which has been the venue for most Kōhaku editions since 1971, can seat 3,000 people). This counted as one vote.

As of the 54th (2003) and 55th editions (2004), viewers who watch the program through ISDB-S on NHK BS Hi-vision could vote by having their own head count in their respective households. Although it is still sketchy to determine in the 55th, the audience vote is counted as two votes: one for the venue audience and one for ISDB-S viewers.

The audience vote(s) are added to those of the judges who each have to vote for one team. The team with the most votes wins.

The above process was done differently for the 56th edition (2005). Instead, the NHK Hall head count, the vote count from cellphone users and the vote count from ISDB-S viewers each counted as one vote. As stated above, the team that got at least two votes won.

In the 57th edition (2006), aside from cellphone and ISDB-S viewers and the NHK Hall audience, 1seg users voted. Its format had been reverted to the ball voting system—from the audience head count and the judges' votes.

From the 58th edition (2007) to the 63rd edition (2012) and again from the 65th edition (2014), the winner was determined through an overall head count, all from cellphone, ISDB-S viewers, 1seg users, and the NHK Hall Audience (including guests). Voting reverted temporarily to judges plus audience-unit votes in the 64th edition (2013) except that viewing audience votes (from internet, cellphone, digital TV, and 1seg voting) during halftime and end of show would each count as one vote and the NHK Hall head count as another single vote.

Aside from the performances, there are special performances where certain performers do their act together, and the so-called "Ring Show" where performers from both teams take part in a "singing exercise." At the end of the show, all the performers sing "Hotaru no Hikari" (蛍の光) together. The song is based on the Scottish "Auld Lang Syne" that is commonly sung at New Year parties in the west.

Results

No. Date Red team host White team host Mediator Winning
team 		Overall record
1 3 January 1951 Michiko Katō Shuuichi Fujikura Masaharu Tanabe White 1-0
2 3 January 1952 Kiyoko Tange Shuuichi Fujikura Masaharu Tanabe White 2-0
3 2 January 1953 Suga Honda Teru Miyata Masayori Shimura White 3-0
4 31 December 1953 Takiko Mizunoe Keizo Takahashi Seigoro Kitade Red 3-1
5 31 December 1954 Natsue Fukuji Keizo Takahashi Shōzaburō Ishii Red 3-2
6 31 December 1955 Teru Miyata Keizo Takahashi Shōzaburō Ishii Red 3-3
7 31 December 1956 Teru Miyata Keizo Takahashi Shōzaburō Ishii White 4-3
8 31 December 1957 Takiko Mizunoe Keizo Takahashi Shōzaburō Ishii Red 4-4
9 31 December 1958 Tetsuko Kuroyanagi Keizo Takahashi Shōzaburō Ishii Red 4-5
10 31 December 1959 Meiko Nakamura Keizo Takahashi Shōzaburō Ishii Red 4-6
11 31 December 1960 Meiko Nakamura Keizo Takahashi Shōzaburō Ishii White 5-6
12 31 December 1961 Meiko Nakamura Keizo Takahashi Toshiaki Hosaka White 6-6
13 31 December 1962 Mitsuko Mori Teru Miyata Shōzaburō Ishii White 7-6
14 31 December 1963 Eri Chiemi Teru Miyata Shōzaburō Ishii Red 7-7
15 31 December 1964 Eri Chiemi Teru Miyata Shōzaburō Ishii White 8-7
16 31 December 1965 Michiko Hayashi Teru Miyata Shōzaburō Ishii White 9-7
17 31 December 1966 Peggy Hayama Teru Miyata Shōzaburō Ishii Red 9-8
18 31 December 1967 Yumiko Kokonoe Teru Miyata Shōzaburō Ishii Red 9-9
19 31 December 1968 Kiyoko Suizenji Kyu Sakamoto Teru Miyata White 10-9
20 31 December 1969 Yukari Ito Kyu Sakamoto Teru Miyata Red 10-10
21 31 December 1970 Hibari Misora Teru Miyata Shizuo Yamakawa Red 10-11
22 31 December 1971 Kiyoko Suizenji Teru Miyata Shizuo Yamakawa White 11-11
23 31 December 1972 Naomi Sagara Teru Miyata Shizuo Yamakawa Red 11-12
24 31 December 1973 Kiyoko Suizenji Teru Miyata Shizuo Yamakawa Red 11-13
25 31 December 1974 Naomi Sagara Shizuo Yamakawa Masao Domon & Yōzō Nakae Red 11-14
26 31 December 1975 Naomi Sagara Shizuo Yamakawa Hiroshi Aikawa White 12-14
27 31 December 1976 Naomi Sagara Shizuo Yamakawa Hiroshi Aikawa Red 12-15
28 31 December 1977 Naomi Sagara Shizuo Yamakawa Hiroshi Aikawa White 13-15
29 31 December 1978 Mitsuko Mori Shizuo Yamakawa Hiroshi Aikawa White 14-15
30 31 December 1979 Kiyoko Suizenji Shizuo Yamakawa Yōzō Nakae Red 14-16
31 31 December 1980 Tetsuko Kuroyanagi Shizuo Yamakawa Yōzō Nakae Red 14-17
32 31 December 1981 Tetsuko Kuroyanagi Shizuo Yamakawa Keiichi Ubukata White 15-17
33 31 December 1982 Tetsuko Kuroyanagi Shizuo Yamakawa Keiichi Ubukata Red 15-18
34 31 December 1983 Tetsuko Kuroyanagi Kenji Suzuki Tamori White 16-18
35 31 December 1984 Mitsuko Mori Kenji Suzuki Keiichi Ubukata Red 16-19
36 31 December 1985 Masako Mori Kenji Suzuki Masaho Senda Red 16-20
37 31 December 1986 Yuki Saito & Yoriko Mekata Yūzō Kayama & Masaho Senda Seiichi Yoshikawa White 17-20
38 31 December 1987 Akiko Wada Yūzō Kayama Seiichi Yoshikawa Red 17-21
39 31 December 1988 Akiko Wada Yūzō Kayama Keiko Sugiura White 18-21
40 31 December 1989 Yoshiko Mita Tetsuya Takeda Sadatomo Matsudaira Red 18-22
41 31 December 1990 Yoshiko Mita Toshiyuki Nishida Sadatomo Matsudaira White 19-22
42 31 December 1991 Yūko Ayano Masaaki Sakai Shizuo Yamakawa Red 19-23
43 31 December 1992 Hikari Ishida Masaaki Sakai Shizuo Yamakawa White 20-23
44 31 December 1993 Hikari Ishida Masaaki Sakai Miyuki Morita White 21-23
45 31 December 1994 Emiko Kaminuma Ichiro Furutachi Yasuo Miyakawa Red 21-24
46 31 December 1995 Emiko Kaminuma Ichiro Furutachi Ryūji Miyamoto & Mitsuyo Kusano White 22-24
47 31 December 1996 Takako Matsu Ichiro Furutachi Ryūji Miyamoto & Mitsuyo Kusano White 23-24
48 31 December 1997 Akiko Wada Masahiro Nakai Ryūji Miyamoto White 24-24
49 31 December 1998 Junko Kubo Masahiro Nakai Ryūji Miyamoto Red 24-25
50 31 December 1999 Junko Kubo Nakamura Kankurō V Ryūji Miyamoto White 25-25
51 31 December 2000 Junko Kubo Motoya Izumi Ryūji Miyamoto Red 25-26
52 31 December 2001 Yumiko Udō Wataru Abe Tamio Miyake White 26-26
53 31 December 2002 Yumiko Udō Wataru Abe Tamio Miyake Red 26-27
54 31 December 2003 Yumiko Udō & Takako Zenba Wataru Abe & Tetsuya Takayama Tōko Takeuchi White 27-27
55 31 December 2004 Fumie Ono Wataru Abe Masaaki Horio Red 27-28
56 31 December 2005 Mino Monta, Motoyo Yamane, Yukie Nakama, and Koji Yamamoto* White 28-28
57 31 December 2006 Yukie Nakama Masahiro Nakai Tamio Miyake & Megumi Kurosaki White 29-28
58 31 December 2007 Masahiro Nakai** Shōfukutei Tsurube II Kazuya Matsumoto & Miki Sumiyoshi White 30-28
59 31 December 2008 Yukie Nakama Masahiro Nakai Kazuya Matsumoto White 31-28
60 31 December 2009 Yukie Nakama Masahiro Nakai Wataru Abe White 32-28
61 31 December 2010 Nao Matsushita Arashi*** Wataru Abe White 33-28
62 31 December 2011 Mao Inoue Arashi Wataru Abe Red 33-29
63 31 December 2012 Maki Horikita Arashi Yumiko Udō White 34-29
64 31 December 2013 Haruka Ayase Arashi Yumiko Udō White 35-29
65 31 December 2014 Yuriko Yoshitaka Arashi Yumiko Udō White 36-29
66 31 December 2015 Haruka Ayase Yoshihiko Inohara Tetsuko Kuroyanagi Red 36-30
67 31 December 2016 Kasumi Arimura Masaki Aiba Shinichi Takeda TBD TBD
The white team has won 36 of the 66 contests.

* In the 56th edition, the roles of mediator and team host were blurred as all four hosts intermingled with both teams.
** Masahiro Nakai is the first male team host of the Red team since Teru Miyata in the 6th and 7th editions. Red team hosts (even in pairs) are usually female.
*** All five members of Arashi act as one host-unit, although at least one member would appear on stage to take the role. This is why Arashi's Red team counterpart has always been a single person.

Popularity

Kōhaku was once the most-watched show on Japanese television of the year. One major factor was that New Year's Eve in Japan is a holiday traditionally spent at home (see Ōmisoka). Over the years, the annual event's popularity has declined from an all-time high of 81.4 (14th event) to an all-time low of 30.8/39.3 (55th event) in the Kantō region.[2] Despite the drop, Kōhaku is consistently the top-rated musical event each year.[3]

Notable acts in Japanese Entertainment on Kōhaku

The following is a list of acts with notable contributions to the Japanese entertainment industry, and have a minimum of five appearances on Kōhaku to his/her/its credit (appearance numbers in parentheses are as of the 66th edition):

Pop and rock

1. Matsuura has also appeared with DEF.DIVA and GAM. However, NHK does not count those appearances towards her count.

Enka and other contemporary

1. Saori Yuki and Sachiko Yasuda are counted as a duet. Solo appearances by either of the two would not count towards the duet count.

Notable foreign competitors on Kōhaku

Although Kōhaku is made up of mostly Japanese nationalized geinōjin in the geinōkai, foreign artists (artists who are not Japanese nationals) popular in Japan have competed in the program. Special appearances, supporting musicians or other methods of participation where the artist or group's performance was not accounted for in the overall scoring should not be added to this list. Below is a list of artists or groups who have done so, categorized based on the country of origin (Asian or non-Asian) the person or majority of the members in a group are from, along with the editions:

Asian

Non-Asian competitors

References

  1. ↑ "A History of International Broadcasting from Japan 80 years of NHK WORLD 1935-2015". nhk.or.jp.
  2. ↑ "NHK総合「紅白歌合戦」 - ビデオリサーチ". videor.co.jp.
  3. ↑ "視聴率データ｜ビデオリサーチ". videor.co.jp.
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