Michihito Goda on How to Restore Kouhaku Amid the Rise of Special Slots

The roots of the special segment go back to 1973

For this year’s Kōhaku Uta Gassen, once the participating members were announced, more performers gradually joined, and in recent years it has become common to announce special slots or special projects, heightening the excitement for New Year’s Eve. This year, on the 28th, the grand finale of Seiko Matsuda’s special segment was announced.

The 76th edition of Kōhaku marks the 100th anniversary since Japan’s first broadcast in Taisho 14 (1925). Masaki Sakai, who has been active as a star, singer, host, and cheering squad leader throughout Kōhaku’s history, will perform a medley of his hits, and Kiyoshi Hikawa, who has appeared 24 times, will sing Misora Hibari’s Ai Sansan.

As an opening project performed by the participants, titled “100 Years of Broadcasting: Kōhaku Special Medley,” songs including the theme of Yume de Aimashou, one of NHK’s earliest variety music shows, “Sukiyaki” (Ue o Muite Arukou) which became globally famous, the anime theme Hyokkori Hyoutan-jima, the post-2011 earthquake reconstruction support song Hana wa Saku, and Paprika will be performed.

Other artists such as Koji Tamaki, Yumi Matsutoya, and Gen Hoshino will appear in special slots. Historically, the first time a performer was officially marked as special guest at the member announcement was the 24th edition in 1973 (Showa 48). That year, Misora Hibari, who had long been the final performer for the red team, did not appear. It was also the year NHK Hall, the current venue for Kōhaku, was completed. Singers Ichiro Fujiyama and Hamako Watanabe, who were awarded the Purple Ribbon Medal by the government, appeared as special guests.

Both were veteran singers from the early Showa era. They appeared five performers before the finale, and performed Nagasaki no Kane (Fujiyama) and San Francisco no Chinatown (Watanabe), songs they had sung as closing acts for the first Kōhaku, receiving enthusiastic applause.

In 1979 (Showa 54), to mark the 30th edition of Kōhaku, special appearances were announced again. For the white team, Fujiyama Ichiro performed a medley of Oka o Koete, Nagasaki no Kane, and Aoi Sanmyaku, while for the red team, Misora Hibari returned to the stage after seven years. On the day of the member announcement, Hibari explained at a press conference:

“I would have declined if it were just as a competing singer for Kōhaku. But since a special segment was set up and I was invited as a guest, I gladly accepted. It’s the 30th edition, and I wanted graduates to participate and celebrate.”

It can be said that Kōhaku became a truly special program because Japan’s greatest singer, Misora Hibari, treated the program as special. Whether it was declining participation, graduation, the importance of the finale slot, or appearances in special segments, Hibari’s actions elevated the status of Kōhaku itself.

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If Hibari were to appear next under the special slot, it would have been for the 40th edition, at the end of the Showa era. However, Hibari reached that 40th edition and, in the year when Showa gave way to Heisei, she soared to the heavens at the age of 52.

In fact, for a while after the start of the Heisei era, no singers were announced under a special slot. Rather, during that period, singers who today would likely have been classified as special appearances participated as regular performers representing either the red or white teams. Around Showa 60 (1985), with viewership ratings falling below the previous 70%+, the producers began expanding the genres of performers—previously dominated by enka and pop—as a means of adjustment.

Singers such as the opera performer Shinobu Sato, folk singers Chieko Kishi and Takio Ito, and chanson singer Yukari Kaneko, who were not yet familiar to Japanese television audiences, were invited, broadening the range of genres. Saori Yuki, appearing for the first time in nine years since the enka era, as well as Masachika Ichimura and others, were selected as representatives of musical theater before they became widely known today.

However, with viewership failing to return to 70%, there was discussion at the end of the Showa era to end Kōhaku around this time. The NHK president at the time, not being from the entertainment industry, reportedly remarked, “We’re trying to produce a program that surpasses Kōhaku.”

As an alternative, program production that gathered world artists was considered. For the 40th edition in Heisei 1 (1989), Korean singers Cho Yong-pil and Patty Kim, and Kim Young-ja, performing the previous year’s Seoul Olympics theme From the Land of the Morning, appeared in a chima jeogori, while Hong Kong’s Alan Tam also participated.

In the following year (1990), Cyndi Lauper and Paul Simon, and in the year after that (1991), Andy Williams, Sarah Brightman from The Phantom of the Opera, The Ventures performing instrumentally, and the returning Teresa Teng all appeared. By today’s standards, they would easily qualify for a special slot.

From the following year until the rise of K-pop, foreign singers no longer appeared. On the other hand, retired Japanese singers such as Harumi Miyako, Saori Minami, and Masako Mori participated not in a special slot but as members of the red team. Disbanded groups like The Tigers and Pink Lady also made comebacks on Kōhaku.

Until then, Kōhaku had selected songs based on what was released or became a hit that year, as an annual festival, but under the banner of passing on music to the 21st century, singers returned to the Kōhaku stage after more than a decade or two with past hits, including Michiyo Azusa’s Konnichiwa Akachan, the late Yukio Hashi’s Itsudemo Yume o, Ayumi Ishida’s Blue Light Yokohama, Tetsuya Watari’s Kuchinashi no Hana, and Hitoshi Ueki’s Sudara Bushi in a medley.

The festival-ization of Heisei and Reiwa NHK Kouhaku

Takuro Yoshida and Kei Ogura made their first appearances in 1994 (Heisei 6), but these were not under a special category. Until then, every fall, newspapers and magazines would feature prediction charts for that year’s NHK Kouhaku performers, but the Heisei-era Kouhaku gradually became a show where no one could predict who would appear.

The special category, independent of the red and white teams and announced alongside the main members, first appeared in 2007 (Heisei 19) for the 58th edition. This was set up as a tribute to Izumi Sakai of ZARD, who had passed away in May that year, with a “Special Tribute Live” corner at the end of the first half. The segment mainly broadcasted a film concert from NHK Osaka Hall and footage of Sakai during her lifetime, with Masahiro Nakai, the red team host, introducing it as her first Kouhaku appearance.

This year, Kiyoshi Hikawa will sing “Ai Sansan” alongside footage of Misora Hibari, but in the 58th edition, the song’s producer Kei Ogura duetted with footage of Hibari to commemorate her 70th birthday.

At the 60th edition in 2009 (Heisei 21), Eikichi Yazawa finally made his Kouhaku debut. His appearance was kept secret until the day of the broadcast, and he suddenly entered from the NHK Hall dressing room and went straight onto the stage, captivating viewers at home. He returned three years later and is set to appear again this year under the special project, marking 13 years since his last appearance.

In 2011 (Heisei 23), shortly after the Great East Japan Earthquake, Lady Gaga made a special support appearance from New York, delivering a large amount of charity funds. At the 69th Kouhaku, Saburo Kitajima, who had already retired from Kouhaku after 50 appearances five years prior, appeared under a special category to sing “Matsuri” for the final Heisei Kouhaku. After Sayuri Ishikawa and Arashi finished their last Kouhaku performances, Southern All Stars sang at NHK Hall for the first time in 35 years as the ultimate finale. In the song “Katte ni Sindbad,” Keisuke Kuwatadanced while holding Yumi Matsutoya, who appeared in the red team, and Yumi kissed Kuwata on the cheek. Kuwata also handed the microphone to Saburo Kitajima, the other special category performer. All the performers contributed to closing out Heisei 30 in style. This is the same style that Seiko Matsuda follows this year.

For the 70th edition in the Reiwa era, Misora Hibari also appeared again. A new song, “Are kara,” was produced using AI with her past voice. Beat Takeshi performed “Asakusa Kid,” Mariya Takeuchi was added with “Inochi no Uta” under the special category, GReeeeN appeared in 2020 (Reiwa 2) with the NHK morning drama theme song “Hoshikage no Yell,” and even B’z entered halfway from the studio to the hall in 2024 (Reiwa 6), creating a program full of surprises until the very end.

No longer a battle?

It is true that the number of additional members after the initial lineup is large, and the distinction between the red team, white team, special appearances, and planned appearances has become blurred. Singers who appear in the special project slot sometimes return the next year as part of the regular Kōhaku lineup. In fact, last year Kenshi Yonezu, who was in the special group, is part of the white team this year.

Since most of the performers are special or notable singers, I think it might be better to clearly separate planned projects from Kōhaku, and return to the original format of the Kōhaku Uta Gassen, where men and women compete in equal numbers with singing and performances.

Unless it’s a tribute to deceased artists, like Hibari Misora’s AI or ZARD’s film appearance, viewers likely perceive male singers as white team and female singers as red team, even in special projects. Perhaps it would be better to implement a survey like in the era when Kōhaku was called a national event, asking “Which singers do you want to see or hear on Kōhaku?” Then negotiate appearances starting from the top-ranked singers, and if someone declines or cannot appear, select the next in line something along those lines.

In that case, for example, last year’s special project—a tribute to the late Toshiyuki Nishida with friends Tetsuya Takeda, Keiko Takeshita, Ken Tanaka, and Shigeru Matsuzaki singing “Moshimo Piano ga Hiketara”—would have been much clearer and easier to understand.