Tears so big you couldn’t see the audience, the famous “Misora Incident”… Singers who “retired or closed down” using “Kohaku” as a springboard for their careers

Arashi, Namie Amuro, Momoe Yamaguchi…

It was in Reiwa 2020 that Arashi made her “last” appearance in Kohaku (red and white), as she was taking a break from the group. She also went on maternity leave on New Year’s Eve, and it was whispered that this would be the last time we would see her on the stage. However, she gave birth safely in May of the following year. However, she gave birth safely in May of the following year, and a year later she sang “Can You Celebrate?

The following year, she was rumored to be getting married and was asked, “Is this your last Kohaku?” The following year, she was rumored to be getting married, and as a result, the following year, it was said that this would be her last Kohaku, and as a result, it turned out to be so. Masako and Saori, however, had appeared in Kohaku as “one-day revivals” after their retirements, and Masako made a comeback to Kohaku in the year she divorced and started her singing career again. (She is now retired again).

Now, Candies announced that they would break up and retire, saying, “I want to be a normal girl. Their last song “Kohaku” was “Yasashii Devil” in 1977, before disbanding in April of the following year. Since then, the three have been active in their own right, and although Yoshiko Tanaka is already a demon, the talk of the town is that Ran Ito will appear in “Kohaku” for the first time in 46 years in this year’s “Kohaku”. Shuri Shuri, who plays Shizuko Kasagi (Suzuko Fukurai in the drama) in the current morning drama “Boogie Woogie,” is Ran’s daughter.

The previous year’s “7th Kohaku” (’56) was her last appearance, as Kasagi had also quit singing to pursue an acting career. However, there was a singer who firmly retired from singing on the stage of “Kohaku” in 1957, the year Kasagi retired. It was Minoru Obata.

Tears began to come out of my eyes,” she said. By the end, I couldn’t see the stage or the audience…”

Obata had a string of big hits, including “Yushima no Shiraume” and “Kantaro Tsukiya Uta” during the war and “Nagasaki no Pomelo Seller” and “Hoshikage no Koeri” after the war. With her sweet voice, she was such a big star that the magazine “Heibon” ranked Hibari Misora first among women and Obata first among men in its popularity poll.

However, in 1955, Hachiro Kasuga, who had hit it big with “Otomi-san” the previous year, took the male No. 1 spot and she was ranked No. 2. The following year, he tried to regain the top spot, but for the second year in a row, Kasuga took the top spot.

The following year, in 1932, Michiya Mitsuhashi replaced Kasuga at the top spot, and the rise of younger singers caused Obata to drop to 10th place. Seeing this result, Obata said to himself, ” Singers are only popular while they are still in bloom. He gave up on his career as a singer and ended his 17-year career as a singer with “Kohaku” as the highlight of his career .

In the 1960s, when the “Natsu Mello Boom” was underway, Obata was asked to make a fresh start as a singer, and he wrote a retrospective of that day’s “Kohaku” in his memoirs.

When I went out on stage, I was filled with emotion. I was a professional singer, so I sang, but I couldn’t speak very well. Eventually, tears began to well up in my eyes. By the end, I was so moved by the tears that I couldn’t see the stage or the audience.

Harumi Miyako’s Retirement from Kohaku…Behind the Scenes of Announcer Kenji Suzuki’s Historically Remarkable Comments

Another singer who retired in 1984, the 20th year since her debut, was Harumi Miy ako, who performed in “Kohaku” in 1984.

This was her last performance after her last concert in Japan. She was the last performer in the order of songs. The host, Mitsuko Mori, tearfully introduced her by saying, ” Thank you for 20 years, Harumi Miyako. The introduction of her last single, “Married Couple on the Hill,” which had been a big hit, began. As she slowly descended the grand staircase in the center with a nervous look on her face, Harumi sang, “If you cross this hill, happiness awaits you,” as if to herself, putting her heart into every word of the lyrics.

She sang with great spirit, appealing, “This is the last time. When she finished singing, the audience erupted in applause and cheering. Harumi was sobbing as if all her strength had been drained from her body.

The audience called for an encore. Kenji Suzuki, the announcer for the white group, made a comment that would go down in history: “I’m going to ask Harumi to do it. I’m going to ask Harumi-san to give me one minute of her time. Please give me one minute of your time. But the end of the live broadcast was approaching. Just as Suzuki put his hand on Harumi’s shoulder and asked her if she could sing, the prelude to the encore song, “I’ve come to love you,” began.

Suzuki said that he cried out in his heart, “Oh, no! Chief producer Minoru Katsuta, who was in the sub-control room, calmly cued the start of the accompaniment while watching the two of them on the monitor TV.

In a newspaper interview at the beginning of the year, Announcer Suzuki said, “If the accompaniment had not started at that time, a different drama would have been created. If there had been another 45 seconds…” Katsuta, the general manager, said, “If we had been able to extend the broadcast time, it might have turned out differently,” but he added, “That was impossible.

Harumi could hardly sing “The One I Love. She was in tears and so excited that she couldn’t speak. She was in a state of abandonment. As if to help her out, the other members of the cast and the audience sang along with Harumi as they looked at her in tears. It was shortly after this that the “MISORA incident” occurred, as announcer Keiichi Ikata, the general chairman of the event, put it.

It was an extraordinary atmosphere,” she said. Everyone was crying. I thought Harumi Miyako had surpassed Hibaba Misora on this stage, and I said “Miso…” without thinking. But the New Year holidays after “Kohaku” were difficult. When I picked up a razor to shave my beard, my family said to me, “Dad, don’t be too hasty.

Later, in the year when the Showa era ended and the Heisei era began, Harumi made a “one-day comeback” in the 40th Kohaku (red and white), which was also well received, and in 1990 she returned to singing. In 1990, she returned to the Kohaku group as a soloist with the song “Thousand Year Old Capital.

Checkers: “I would like to play the last act in place of Kitajima-san.

The KOME KOME CLUB in 1996, X JAPAN in 1997, SPEED in 1999, and FUNKY MONKEY BABY in 2012 were among those who performed on the stage before their breakup. FUNKY MONKEY BABY in 2012, but I’d like to leave you with a memory of the Checkers in 1992.

The Checkers had announced their dissolution on that day, and the day of the announcement of the contestants was the first day of their national tour. On stage, Fumiya Fujii said to the fans, “Please stay with us until we burn up in Kohaku! He also declared, “I would like to play the last song in place of Mr. Kitajima.

The final performance began with their debut song, “Jagged Heart Lullaby. Fans in the audience sang along. Then came “Nada no Request,” their first hit and first appearance in Kohaku, followed by “Hoshikuzu no Stage,” “I LOVE YOU SAYONARA,” and the final single “Present for You,” all of which were sung in a medley that kept the audience’s voltage high. The medley was an unusual treatment, and in the end, the last song was sung as planned (?) by Saburo Kitajima. The final song was “Karekitakarokana” by Saburo Kitajima, who also sang “Koukaerokana. This year, Fumiya also returned to “Kohaku” ( ).