Maho Kuwako and Mayuko Wakuda, NHK’s “two-top” Female Announcers, Omitted as Hostesses for the 74th NHK Kohaku Uta Gassen
Why are the names of these two aces missing this year after six years of being on the list?
In fact, Kuwako’s only regular TV program is currently “Close-Up Today,” a news program she has been anchoring since last April. Moreover, the program airs only three days a week, Monday through Wednesday.
“On the other hand, Kuwako was a favorite of former chairman Terunobu Maeda, who stepped down in January, and there was a view within the station that she would not be chosen as the host this year. Also, in the past Kohaku, she made the fatal mistake of mistakenly saying ‘the red team had the winning flag’ when the white team had won.”
What about Wakuda? Although not publicly announced, she is said to have given birth to her first child last summer with a trading company employee, a former Hakone Ekiden athlete, whom she married in February 2019. She was on maternity leave after her regular TV program was canceled last spring, but she made a “speedy return” as a Monday-Thursday anchor of “News 7” from April this year.
NHK decided to have Wakuda resume her work as the “face of the night” on its flagship news program because of her outstanding stability, ability, and popularity, but viewers criticized the timing of her return, saying that it was too soon.
However, viewers criticized the timing of her return, saying that it was too early. “Although NHK would like to use Wakuda as Kohaku host, there is a possibility that she will be criticized even more for taking on this major role while she is busy raising her child. In consideration of the fact that she has just given birth, she has taken care to appear on “News 7” four times a week, one day less than usual. However, it is believed that they could not ask her to host Kohaku, which is a job that places an unusual amount of stress on a mother who is also raising a child, out of consideration for public opinion.”
Kuwako, who joined the company in 2010, is one year senior to Wakuda. Risa Hayashida, 33, who joined the company in 2014, is currently the anchor of “News Watch 9” and is gaining popularity close to the two with her healing beauty. There were reports floating around that she would be selected for this year’s Kohaku, but that never happened. Will the slot for an “ace female announcer” to host next year’s Kohaku be restored?
