This year it was just the two of us!　Hosts from the Morning Drama

The first time in the history of ……75 that the two heroines of the pre- and post-“Morning Drama” seasons have been together.

The season of the Kohaku Uta Gassen (Red and White Singing Contest), a tradition at New Year’s Eve, has come again this year, the 75th anniversary of the event, and all eyes are on the hostesses.

For the third year in a row, Kanna Hashimoto is the heroine of the ongoing morning drama “Omusubi. She is playing the role of Yoneda Yui, who struggles every day with a gal mindset, and this year she will be joined by another female hostess, Sairi Ito from the previous season’s morning drama “Tora ni Tsubasa. She plays Torako Sada, a lawyer living in the legal profession in the early Showa period when women’s rights were not yet recognized.

The theme song of each, “Sayonara Again Someday!” from “Tora ni Tsubasa! of “Tora ni Tsubasa” and B’z of “Omusubi” and “Illumination” were also selected to participate in the special program slot, bringing the show to life at once.

This is the first time in its 75-year history that two heroines from the first and second seasons have hosted “Kohaku,” and although the image of “morning drama = Kohaku host” had been attached to the drama for several years until about five years ago, until the last season of the Heisei era, it was never the case that an actor was selected as the host of “Kohaku” simply because he or she appeared in a morning drama. Until then, it was not the case.

Michiko Hayashi, the first morning drama actress to be selected as the host of the Kohaku program.

The first “morning drama” actress to host the Kohaku program was Michiko Hayashi in the 16th episode in 1965. Uzushio,” based on the novel by Fumiko Hayashi, whose works include “Nomadoki,” was the fourth morning drama to appear on April 6, 1964.

At that time, morning dramas were broadcast throughout the year, rather than being produced by the Tokyo Broadcasting Bureau and Osaka Bureau for the first half of the year (April to September) and the second half of the year (October to March) in rotation, as is the case today. It was not until 1975 that the first and second seasons were produced in rotation.

Until then, most of the dramas were produced by the Tokyo Bureau, but “Uzushio” was the first drama produced by the Osaka Bureau.

In fact, this was the same year that the Olympic Games were held in Tokyo. The festival of the century was coming for the first time 19 years after the war. It was also the arrival of a great opportunity for Japan to finally revive itself as one of the world’s great powers. While no one had any idea what to expect from the broadcast of the first Olympics, there was a feeling that the Osaka Bureau would be left to its own devices for this year. It was a new opportunity for the Osaka station as well.

For the past three episodes, the station had chosen a popular actress as the heroine, but from this year, it chose an unknown newcomer as the heroine. The first episode received a 23.2% rating, but the highest rating for the entire year was 47.8%, and Michiko Hayashi quickly became a nationally known actress. Hayashi’s success led to the saying that “morning dramas are the gateway to becoming a great actress.

Hayashi served as a judge for the 1964 Kohaku (red and white) TV drama, which was being broadcast during the same year, and when the drama ended in 1965, she was chosen as the host of Kohaku due to her popularity and the fact that she was a new face that NHK had fostered.

I once asked Hayashi directly about this.

Well, I had never hosted anything before, but I thought, “I can handle it! I thought, “I can handle it! I was young. When the show started, my mind went blank, and even if I tried to speak properly, I would stop. Then I would get even more impatient…I was terrified for those three hours.

Indeed, until then, the hostesses of the Red Group had been accomplished performers such as Tetsuko Kuroyanagi, Meiko Nakamura, and Mitsuko Mori. In the two years before Hayashi, the first attempt was made to have a singer in the red group also serve as the MC, which had never been done before. At this stage, she was a veteran singer with more than 10 years of experience. Even Eri was so worn out from hosting the event that she said, “I’ve had enough of it. ……

In addition to the pressure of live broadcasts, the host must be flexible and adaptable on the spot.

It’s very unique,” he said. The singers are, of course, very serious about the song they are performing,” he said. I was caught up in the unique atmosphere. I was thinking, “This is not how it was supposed to be… ……,” and the time passed so quickly. But it’s a good memory.