<h3><span class="strongInContent">Arashi, Namie Amuro, Momoe Yamaguchi&#8230;</span></h3>
<p> It was in Reiwa 2020 that <span class="strongInContent">Arashi</span> made her &#8220;last&#8221; appearance in Kohaku (red and white), as she was taking a break from the group. She also went on maternity leave on New Year&#8217;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 &#8220;Can You Celebrate?</p>
<p> The following year, she was rumored to be getting married and was asked, &#8220;Is this your last Kohaku?&#8221; The following year, she was rumored to be getting married, and as a result, <span class="strongInContent">the</span> 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 &#8220;one-day revivals&#8221; 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).</p>
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<p> Now, <span class="strongInContent">Candies</span> announced that they would break up and retire, saying, &#8220;I want to be a normal girl. Their last song &#8220;Kohaku&#8221; was &#8220;Yasashii Devil&#8221; 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 <span class="strongInContent">Ran Ito</span> will appear in &#8220;Kohaku&#8221; for the first time in 46 years in this year&#8217;s &#8220;Kohaku&#8221;. Shuri Shuri, who plays <span class="strongInContent">Shizuko Kasagi</span> (Suzuko Fukurai in the drama) in the current morning drama &#8220;Boogie Woogie,&#8221; is Ran&#8217;s daughter.</p>
<figure id="attachment_351547" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-351547" style="width: 1250px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="ec99e905"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/12/c7f7effbe9bf51fca9c95fc2af4cee10.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-351547" class="wp-caption-text"> Ran Ito appears in &#8220;Kohaku&#8221; for the first time in 46 years. The photo shows the &#8220;Farewell Performance&#8221; held at Korakuen Stadium in Tokyo the following year (PHOTO: Sankei Shimbun).</figcaption></figure>
<p> The previous year&#8217;s &#8220;7th Kohaku&#8221; (&#8217;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 &#8220;Kohaku&#8221; in 1957, the year Kasagi retired. It was <span class="strongInContent">Minoru Obata</span>.</p>
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<h3><span class="strongInContent"> Tears began to come out of my eyes,&#8221; she said. By the end, I couldn&#8217;t see the stage or the audience&#8230;&#8221;</span></h3>
<p> Obata had a string of big hits, including &#8220;Yushima no Shiraume&#8221; and &#8220;Kantaro Tsukiya Uta&#8221; during the war and &#8220;Nagasaki no Pomelo Seller&#8221; and &#8220;Hoshikage no Koeri&#8221; after the war. With her sweet voice, she was such a big star that the magazine &#8220;Heibon&#8221; ranked Hibari Misora first among women and Obata first among men in its popularity poll.</p>
<p> However, in 1955, <span class="strongInContent">Hachiro Kasuga, who</span> had hit it big with &#8220;Otomi-san&#8221; 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.</p>
<p> The following year, in 1932, <span class="strongInContent">Michiya Mitsuhashi</span> 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, &#8221; <span class="strongInContent">Singers are only popular while they are still in bloom</span>. He gave up on his career as a singer and ended his 17-year career as a singer with &#8220;Kohaku&#8221; as the highlight of his career <span class="strongInContent">.</span></p>
<p> In the 1960s, when the &#8220;Natsu Mello Boom&#8221; was underway, Obata was asked to make a fresh start as a singer, and he wrote a retrospective of that day&#8217;s &#8220;Kohaku&#8221; in his memoirs.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> When I went out on stage, I was filled with emotion. I was a professional singer, so I sang, but I couldn&#8217;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&#8217;t see the stage or the audience.</span></p>
<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" Harumi Miyako and announcer Kenji Suzuki&#39;s historic remarks"></div>
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<h3><span class="strongInContent">Harumi Miyako&#8217;s Retirement from Kohaku&#8230;Behind the Scenes of Announcer Kenji Suzuki&#8217;s Historically Remarkable Comments</span></h3>
<p> Another singer who retired in 1984, the 20th year since her debut, was <span class="strongInContent">Harumi Miy</span> ako, who performed in &#8220;Kohaku&#8221; in 1984.</p>
<p> 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, &#8221; <span class="strongInContent">Thank you for 20 years,</span> Harumi Miyako. The introduction of <span class="strongInContent">her</span> last single, &#8220;Married Couple on the Hill,&#8221; 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, &#8220;If you cross this hill, happiness awaits you,&#8221; as if to herself, putting her heart into every word of the lyrics.</p>
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<p> She sang with great spirit, appealing, &#8220;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.</p>
<p> The audience called for an encore. Kenji Suzuki, the announcer for the white group, made a comment that would go down in history: &#8220;I&#8217;m going to ask Harumi to do it. <span class="strongInContent">I&#8217;m going to ask Harumi-san to give me one minute of her time. Please give me one minute of your time</span>. But the end of the live broadcast was approaching. Just as Suzuki put his hand on Harumi&#8217;s shoulder and asked her <span class="strongInContent">if she could sing</span>, the prelude to the encore song, &#8220;I&#8217;ve come to love you,&#8221; began.</p>
<p> Suzuki said that he cried out in his heart, &#8220;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.</p>
<figure id="attachment_351525" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-351525" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="7b0878b1"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/12/cd6f134e173036ad90a2c94b5ace54ab.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-351525" class="wp-caption-text"> Harumi Miyako retired from &#8220;Kohaku&#8221; in 1984, the 20th year since her debut (PHOTO: Kyodo News)</figcaption></figure>
<p> In a newspaper interview at the beginning of the year, Announcer Suzuki said, &#8220;If the accompaniment had not started at that time, a different drama would have been created. If there had been another 45 seconds&#8230;&#8221; Katsuta, the general manager, said, &#8220;If we had been able to extend the broadcast time, it might have turned out differently,&#8221; but he added, &#8220;That was impossible.</p>
<p> Harumi could hardly sing &#8220;The One I Love. She was in tears and so excited that she couldn&#8217;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 &#8220;MISORA incident&#8221; occurred, as announcer Keiichi Ikata, the general chairman of the event, put it.</p>
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<p><span class="strongInContent"> It was an extraordinary atmosphere,&#8221; she said. Everyone was crying. I thought Harumi Miyako had surpassed Hibaba Misora on this stage, and I said &#8220;Miso&#8230;&#8221; without thinking. But the New Year holidays after &#8220;Kohaku&#8221; were difficult. When I picked up a razor to shave my beard, my family said to me, &#8220;Dad, don&#8217;t be too hasty.</span></p>
<p> Later, in the year when the Showa era ended and the Heisei era began, Harumi made a &#8220;one-day comeback&#8221; 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 &#8220;Thousand Year Old Capital.</p>
<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" The Checkers: &quot;Replacing Mr. Kitajima as the last performer...&quot;"></div>
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<h3><span class="strongInContent">Checkers: &#8220;I would like to play the last act in place of Kitajima-san.</span><span class="strongInContent"> </span></h3>
<p> The <span class="strongInContent">KOME KOME CLUB</span> in 1996, <span class="strongInContent">X JAPAN</span> in 1997, <span class="strongInContent">SPEED</span> in 1999, and FUNKY MONKEY BABY in 2012 were among those who performed on the stage before their breakup. <span class="strongInContent">FUNKY MONKEY BABY</span> in 2012, but I&#8217;d like to leave you with a memory of the <span class="strongInContent">Checkers</span> in 1992.</p>
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<p> 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, <span class="strongInContent">Fumiya Fujii</span> said to the fans, &#8220;Please stay with us until we burn up in Kohaku! He also declared, &#8220;I would like to play the last song in place of Mr. Kitajima.</p>
<p> The final performance began with their debut song, &#8220;Jagged Heart Lullaby. Fans in the audience sang along. Then came &#8220;Nada no Request,&#8221; their first hit and first appearance in Kohaku, followed by &#8220;Hoshikuzu no Stage,&#8221; &#8220;I LOVE YOU SAYONARA,&#8221; and the final single &#8220;Present for You,&#8221; all of which were sung in a medley that kept the audience&#8217;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 &#8220;Karekitakarokana&#8221; by <span class="strongInContent">Saburo Kitajima</span>, who also sang &#8220;Koukaerokana. This year, Fumiya also returned to &#8220;Kohaku&#8221; ( <wbr></wbr>).</p>
<figure id="attachment_351548" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-351548" style="width: 1250px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="71ada090"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/12/43a57e0224e7c53502c94991eb2406bd.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-351548" class="wp-caption-text"> Fumiya Fujii of Checkers declared, &#8220;I would like to play the last song in place of Kitajima-san.</figcaption></figure>
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 Michito Goda made his debut as a singer-songwriter with Watanabe Productions in 1979 while still in high school. Since then, in addition to composing and directing music programs, hosting TV shows, and supervising and commentating on CDs, he has also written for newspapers and magazines, composed poetry, and served as a radio DJ, demonstrating his versatility in a variety of fields. His books include "The Mystery of Doyo," "The Mystery of the Shrine," "The Mystery of Showa Songs" (Shodensha), and "The Truth of the Monster Program Kohaku Uta Gassen" (Gentosha), and his current book "The Mystery of the Doyo Who Sang Seasonal Poems" (Kasama Shoin) is a hit. The program of the Japan Singers Association, of which he is the president, "New Year 12 Hour Song Festival" will be broadcast on BS TV TOKYO on January 2 from 12:00 to 24:00 noon.

 Michito Goda

 The singers who gave up on their singing careers and retired or closed the "Kohaku" stage, saying, "Let's retire before our popularity declines. Michito Goda, "Dr. Kohaku" author and president of the Singer's Association, talks about the Kohaku Uta Gassen, that day and that time.

 Kohaku Uta Gassen: That Day, That Time - Michito Goda, "Dr. Kohaku" author and president of the Singers Association of Japan, talks about the Kohaku Uta Gassen.

Tears so big you couldn&#8217;t see the audience, the famous &#8220;Misora Incident&#8221;&#8230; Singers who &#8220;retired or closed down&#8221; using &#8220;Kohaku&#8221; as a springboard for their careers

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

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