<figure id="attachment_452325" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-452325" style="width: 683px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="707a0d90"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2025/12/e4b1663c88839cfc0c78dc0567a9277b.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-452325" class="wp-caption-text">Mrs. GREEN APPLE to be the White Group&#8217;s trio; first time ever for a rock band to be the trio.</figcaption></figure>
<h3> Was Yumi once &#8220;unsuccessful&#8221; in the Kohaku Uta Gassen?</h3>
 Even though times have changed, &#8220;Kohaku Uta Gassen&#8221; is still a dream show for singers. It is a status for singers to be on that stage.
Yumi Matsutoya, who was chosen to appear in this year&#8217;s Kohaku on December 22 as part of a special program, said, &#8220;Fifty years ago, when I was a singer, I was a singer. 
 It is truly a dream come true that I, who stepped into a place far from the mainstream of the Japanese entertainment industry roughly 50 years ago, will be able to perform in this memorial Kohaku Uta Gassen.&#8221;
 During Yumi Arai&#8217;s time with Yumi Yumi, she had not actually turned down &#8220;Kohaku&#8221;. Although &#8220;Ano Hi ni Kattaeritai (I Want to Go Back to That Day)&#8221; and &#8220;Hazy Room&#8221; were hits, they were not among the members of the group. When the press at the time asked why she was not selected on the day the members were announced, NHK responded that she had not done much on TV, and that although she had support from the younger generation, it was mainly in urban areas and out of reach in rural areas.
 This was true not only for Yumi, but also for Iruka in &#8220;Nagori Yuki&#8221; andMiyuki Nakajima. From that time on, it was big names such asHibari Misora,Yujiro Ishihara, and Chiemi Eri who had turned down negotiations to appear on the show. It was a time when these women were still newcomers and were omitted because of their &#8220;lack of TV activity. For Yumi, who knew those days, the presence of &#8220;Kohaku&#8221; was still significant.
 In such an environment, it is an honor to be the final singer and trio of the Kohaku Army.
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 Until last year, MISIA and Masaharu Fukuyama had sung the last song for five consecutive years, but when it came to the last song of &#8220;Kohaku in the Showa era,&#8221; which had a viewer rating of over 70%, it was always Hibari Misora in the red group. Hibari made her first appearance in the &#8220;5th Kohaku Uta Gassen&#8221; in the fifth year after her debut. Considering the number of hits she had, it would not have been surprising if she had appeared even before that. One sometimes encounters books that give the reason that she was too young to participate in the Kohaku Uta Gassen, but this is not the case.
In fact, Masako Kawada, a children&#8217;s song singer who was 11 years old at the time, participated in the &#8220;Kohaku Ongaku Gassen&#8221; broadcast on New Year&#8217;s Eve in 1945, the year the war ended, which was the prototype program for the &#8220;Kohaku Uta Gassen&#8221;. In the same year that Hibari made her debut at the age of 17, Yoshiyuki Kono, also an 11-year-old boy soprano, also made her debut.
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<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" The &quot;Battle of the Women&quot; and the battle with TBS for the top spot"></div>
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<h3>Chiyoko Shimakura threatened the position of Hibari Misora, the &#8220;absolute queen.</h3>
 Hibari has not appeared in &#8220;Kohaku&#8221; for two years since the year after her first appearance. Why?　Because &#8220;Kohaku&#8221; itself had not yet been recognized as a &#8220;national event,&#8221; so there was no need for Hibari to appear. The year after Hibari&#8217;s first appearance, Radio Tokyo (now TBS) created a program called &#8220;All-Star Uta Gassen&#8221;, which was completely copied from &#8220;Kohaku Uta Gassen&#8221;, and paid several times the fee of NHK to secure the members of the program. Hibari and Chiyoko Shimakura, who was a newcomer, appeared on that program.
 In 1955, Chiyoko Shimakura, who had just made her debut, was the top batter in the red group of the &#8220;All-Star Uta Gassen&#8221; and Hibari had already made her debut in the final round. It was Shimakura&#8217;s first appearance. Hibari was 20 years old and proudly sang as the trio of the red group.
 This was a change of era from Hamako Watanabe (the first, second, fourth, and fifth trios) and Shizuko Kasagi (the third and seventh trios), who had been the trio from the first to seventh trios in the past. From that point on, Hibari performed 13 times until her last appearance in 1972 (Showa 47). For three years from 1960 to 1962, she was replaced by Chiyoko Shimakura.
 Shimakura told me this before his death,
 When I was young, I only wondered if it was my turn to be the tori,&#8221; Shimakura said.　I only thought it was just a matter of time, but later on in the show with Hibari, she sang a few songs in a special corner in the middle of the show, and I was more shaken up when I was the trio.&#8221;
 In fact, the battle for the top spot between Hibari and Shimakura was so fierce that Hibari continued to be ranked No. 1 in the popularity poll in the magazine &#8220;Heibon,&#8221; but Shimakura took the baton from Hibari when she was ranked No. 1 in the competing magazine &#8220;Meisei. At this time, in 1960, Hibari was the first-half trio in the red group for &#8220;Aisoshin Hashiba,&#8221; the song that won the &#8220;Record Grand Prize&#8221; singing award. The following year, 1961, she cheerfully topped the second half with &#8220;Hibari no Wataridoridori yo&#8221; (It&#8217;s Hibari&#8217;s Migratory Bird). However, in the third year, 37 (1962), Hibari was given a masterpiece, &#8220;Hibari&#8217;s Love Story on Sado Island,&#8221; which of course she should have sung as a trio.
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<h3> Newly married Hibari Misora was humiliated by being &#8220;deprived of the trio.</h3>
 However, the order in which she sang was sixth in the red group, just like a newcomer. Why?　I had always wondered why, but recently I finally found out the reason. Hibari had married Asahi Kobayashi that year, and it was her first big New Year&#8217;s Eve as a newlywed. Hibari wanted to celebrate New Year&#8217;s Eve together even if he had to withdraw from the event. However, after persuasion by NHK, she sang with the promise that she would sing at the beginning of the show and then leave.
 Nowadays, the only time the contestant singers are seen on stage is when they sing, or at most when they make cheering comments, but in those days, all the contestants were supposed to cheer for both the Red and White bands throughout the broadcast time, with the women on the downstairs side (left hand when seen from the audience) and the men in the upper seats (right hand when seen from the audience), even after their singing was over. Hibari was an exception in this respect.
 An audio recording of the introduction of that day&#8217;s red group host, Mitsuko Mori, remains. Mori said, &#8220;I am sorry, Mr. Kobayashi. I&#8217;m sorry for calling your wife &#8216;Hibari&#8217;&#8230;&#8221; She said &#8220;Hibari&#8221; and &#8220;Hibari&#8221; are two different words. Hibari, who was supposed to sing the last song, sang the first half of the show and hurried home.
 The following year, there were more and more people saying, &#8220;It should be Hibari who should sing the last song&#8230;,&#8221; and she returned to the top of the bill.
The following year, in 1964, Hibari sang the theme song for a TV drama that had just started and sang &#8220;Juu&#8221; (softness) in the Kohaku (red and white) contest, which was also the Tokyo Olympics and the first time judo was included in the Olympic games. However, it became a big hit in the following year and grew to become Hibari&#8217;s biggest hit. Naturally, she sang this song again in 1965 as the last performer. However, although it is unthinkable today, it was said to be insane to sing the same song two years in a row in Kohaku. It was considered to replace the song with another song, but some people thought that it would be strange not to sing &#8220;Juu&#8221; in the Kohaku program that year&#8230; and so they sang the same song two years in a row, as a special, or rather, as a matter of course.
 The next year, she sang &#8220;Sad Sake,&#8221; but in 1970, she had no hits of her own, and the weekly magazines and newspapers asked whether Keiko Fuji orMina Aoe would take over for Hibari. Weekly magazines and newspapers wrote articles such as, &#8220;Will Keiko Fuji or Mina Aoe replace Hibari as the final performer? However, that year, Hibari took over as host of the red group and successfully performed the last song.
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<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" If it was anything other than the last performer, I wouldn&#39;t answer the call."></div>
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<figure id="attachment_452326" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-452326" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="3f609bbf"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2025/12/d42848d68b4e1409f637f400c278f223.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-452326" class="wp-caption-text">Hibari Misora (right) and her mother Kimie Kato</figcaption></figure>
<h3> Behind-the-Scenes &#8220;Record Company War&#8221; at Kohaku</h3>
 In 1971, the following year, Hibari celebrated the 25th anniversary of her performing career, and the plan was to continue the commemorative year by hosting the event and performing the last song. If Hibari did not host the event, it was thought that Kiyoko Suizenji or someone else would take over as the hostess.　However, at the end of October, before his performance at the Umeda Koma Theatre in Osaka, he made a statement at a press conference.
 I don&#8217;t think I will ever host Kohaku again. I was surprised when I saw the members last year. I was surprised when I looked at the members of last year&#8217;s Kohaku,&#8221; he said. Singers who should have been in the competition were dropped. I can&#8217;t even sing properly. I don&#8217;t want to participate in the Kohaku like this. I&#8217;m thinking of declining this year.
 Her mother, who was sitting beside her, added, &#8220;Even if I were to enter, I can&#8217;t think of anyone else but Tori, because the young lady (Hibari) has proven herself so far. I will make this an absolute condition.
 There were certainly those who said that it was arrogant of him to ask her to sing the second violin. However, he made a good argument that how important it is to sing the second song, and that the person who holds this important responsibility must be commensurate with his or her ability. This incident proved that the singer who sings the last song in &#8220;Kohaku&#8221; must be a first-rate singer who is recognized by everyone.
 Although women are inevitably inferior to men in terms of physical strength, they are superior to men in terms of singing skill, ability, and popularity. Kohaku&#8221; is a program that has been promoting gender equality from the very beginning. That is why the mood of the competition was so high. It was also avoided as much as possible that the opponents of &#8220;Kohaku&#8221; were from the same record company. This was similar to the idea of not having wrestlers from the same stable compete against each other.
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 Because of this, Hibari and Shimakura were exclusive to Columbia Records, and before them, Shizuko Kasaoki and Akiko Futaba were also exclusive to Columbia.
 In the beginning, Hibari&#8217;s soloists were Michiya Mihashi andHachiro Kasuga of King Records, followed by Haruo Sanba (Tichiku), Yukio Hashi, and Shinichi Mori (Victor), etc. In Hibari&#8217;s last year, Saburo Kitajima of Crown Records took charge for the first time. Hideo Murata, a Columbia recording artist, who had hit songs such as &#8220;Ousho&#8221; and &#8220;Minna no Shu&#8221; and could have sung the last song, never sang the last song.
 There had been no male tori- singer for Columbia since Ichiro Fujiyama sang at the first, second, and fourth festival , andNoboru Kirishima sang at the fifth festival, when Hamako Watanabe of Victor sang the last song, until Takashi Hosokawa sang &#8220;Yagiri no Yatashi (Passing of the Yagiri)&#8221; at the 34th festival in 1983.
 Since the absence of Hibari, Chiyoko Shimakura has returned to the troupe. After that, Harumi Miyako took over with the big hit &#8220;Kita no Yado Kara&#8221; (From Kita no Yado), but it was still Columbia. The first time that the long-established Teichiku sang &#8220;Onna Minatomachi&#8221; by Aki Yashiro was at the 28th festival in 1977. This was the first time in 22 years that Columbia took over the red group. In 1975, Hiro Itsuki performed &#8220;Chikumagawa&#8221; for the first time in the white group. After that, Kitajima, Itsuki, and Mori competed with each other for the top spot. To date, Kitajima and Itsuki have performed as the trio of the Shiro-gumi 13 times, and Mori nine times.
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<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" Momoe Yamaguchi broke the enka barrier with 19 Years Old..."></div>
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<h3>Momoe Yamaguchi broke the enka barrier with &#8220;19 Years Old</h3>
 Until this time, the image of &#8220;Enka as the last song in Kohaku&#8221; had been strong, but this was overturned in 1978 when Yamaguchi Momoe andSawada Kenji faced off in a pop music duel. Momoe sang &#8220;Playback Part II&#8221; at the age of 19, breaking Hibari&#8217;s record of 20, while Julie and Kenji Sawada sang &#8220;Love &#8211; I want to hold you. The fact that the song&#8217;s lyrics ended with &#8220;Sayonara Sayonara&#8221; was said to be appropriate for the last song.
 However, the pops trio was only this time. The following year, 1954 (1979), was the 30th anniversary of &#8220;Kohaku,&#8221; and Ichiro Fujiyama, the White group&#8217;s first trio trio, and Hibari Misora, a regular trio member, made special appearances. The final two songs were &#8220;You and Me,&#8221; by Hiroshi Itsuki, and &#8220;Funauta,&#8221; by Aki Yashiro.
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 Later, the next generation of singers, including Masako Mori,Sayuri Ishikawa, and Sachiko Kobayashi, took over the top spot in the red group, and Akiko Wada sang in the pops section. Sayuri has sung the last nine times and Wada the last seven, but the first time a popular young pop singer has sung the last song since Momoe will not happen until 1997, when Namie Amuro will sing the last song. It had been 19 years since Momoe&#8217;s last appearance. Amuro took maternity leave after opening the &#8220;Kohaku&#8221; with &#8220;Can You Celebrate?&#8221; but returned to the &#8220;Kohaku&#8221; the following year after safely giving birth to her child in May of the following year. At that time, she sang &#8220;CAN YOU CELEBRATE?&#8221; in front of the trio, as she had done the previous year.
 The next time a young pop idol would be the toastmaster would be in 2003, when a group singer would be the toastmaster. The next time a young pop idol would be the toastmaster was in 2003, and it would be the beginning of a new history of toastmastering by a group singer. It was SMAP &#8216;s &#8220;One and Only One Flower in the World.
 Since then, SMAP has become a regular performer of the White Choir six times, leading to Arashi, Yuzu, and others. This led to Arashi andYuzu, and this year, for the first time in history, a rock band, M rs. GREEN APPLE, will be in charge. In 2009, DREAMS COME TRUE became the first group to be the trio for the 60th Kohgumi, and it was also the first time for a mixed male-female group to be the trio. In the same year, Ikimono-gakari set the record with &#8220;The Wind is Blowing&#8221;.
 In 2014, Seiko Matsuda, the &#8220;diva&#8221; who has been leading the music world since the 80&#8217;s, finally became the first trio in her 18th appearance at the festival. The Reiwa era has led to the MISIA and Masaharu Fukuyama duo.
 This time, following Saburo Kitajima in the year of his 50th appearance and Southern All Stars in the last year of the Heisei era when the new era name was changed , Seiko Matsuda will sing as the &#8221; ultimate grand finale&#8221; after the trio of both Kohaku forces in the &#8221; 100 years of broadcasting&#8221; .
 Looking at the history of the trio singers, it is no exaggeration to say that they are a group of people who have been chosen in the history of postwar music, and only those who have proven themselves, sang well, and are recognized by all as having the ability to sing are allowed to sing.
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 Michito Goda is a writer and president of the Japan Singers Association, and made his debut as a singer/songwriter with Watanabe Productions in 1979 while still in high school. Since then, he has demonstrated his versatility in a variety of fields, including stage and broadcast production, songwriting, and writing. He has written many books, including "The Mystery of Doyo" and "The Mystery of Shrines" series, "The Truth of the Kohaku Uta Gassen" and "Uta wa seiyori ni yoroshiku: 100 years of the Showa Era, Looking Back through Ryuko Uta". His most recent book is "Ano uta, kono uta mo mo genjitsu sengen no uta datta dai douyo, aishou uta no mistery" (Mystery of Children's Songs and Love Songs) (Kasama Shoin), which is based on 80 years after the end of World War II. In 1949, he provided "Koshi no Miyako" to Hiroshi Itsuki, for which he received the Special Jury Prize of the "Japan Poetry Composition Award. He is currently a regular guest on BS TV TOKYO's "Playback Song Festival" and "Song Festival Premium," and on January 2, 2013, "Japan Singers Association New Year 12 Hour Song Festival" will be broadcast from 12:00 pm to 12:00 pm.

 Michito Goda

 Kyodo News

 The wall that Momoe Yamaguchi broke down at the age of 19, and the truth about Hibari Misora's "I won't answer if it's not a trio. What is the lineage that leads to SMAP, Amuro, and Mrs. GREEN APPLE?

 Michito Goda, writer and President of the Japan Singers Association, talks about "Kohaku Uta Gassen That Day, That Time: The Transition of Tori

The wall that Momoe Yamaguchi broke at the age of 19&#8230; The turbulent history of &#8220;Kohaku&#8221; as deciphered from the Hibari Misora &#8220;If it&#8217;s not a trio, I won&#8217;t appear&#8221; incident

The wall that Momoe Yamaguchi broke at the age of 19… The turbulent history of “Kohaku” as deciphered from the Hibari Misora “If it’s not a trio, I won’t appear” incident

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