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59th NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen
The , referred to from hereon as "Kōhaku", was aired on December 31, 2008 from NHK Hall in Japan. The music show on New Year's Eve is broadcast on both television and radio, and divides the most popular music artists of the year into competing teams of red and white. Hosts *Red team host: Yukie Nakama *White team host: Masahiro Nakai *Mediators: Kazuya Matsumoto and Fumie Ono *Radio broadcasting spot person: Yasuhirio Yamada and Aika Kanda Performers The singers, announced on November 25, 2008, are ordered below according to the gojūon. Results The winners were the shirogumi, the white team, making it their 4th consecutive win. The white team now leads with 31 wins over the red team with 28 wins. The table below documents the voting and points distribution: See also *Kōhaku Uta Gassen *50th Japan Record Awards NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen events NHK , also known as NHK, is a Japanese public broadcaster. NHK, which has always been known by this romanized i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
NHK Hall
The NHK Hall is a concert hall located at the NHK Broadcasting Center, the main headquarters of Japan's public broadcaster NHK. The hall is the main venue for the NHK Symphony Orchestra, but it has also played host to other events, such as the 1979 Japan Music Awards, and NHK's annual New Year's Eve special ''Kōhaku Uta Gassen''. History The original NHK Hall opened in 1955 at a location in Tokyo's Uchisaiwai-cho district. Several live programs were broadcast from the hall, such as ''Song Plaza'', ''Kōhaku Uta Gassen'', and ''Personal Secrets''. In 1973, a new NHK Hall was established in Shibuya, Tokyo at the site of NHK's new headquarters, the NHK Broadcasting Center. The acoustics for the hall were designed by Minoru Nagata, later of Nagata Acoustics, while TOA Corporation provided the hall's sound equipment. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ayaka
, known simply as Ayaka, is a female Japanese singer, songwriter and record producer formerly signed to Warner Music Japan. Born in Osaka, she moved to Tokyo to pursue a singing career. She married actor Hiro Mizushima on February 22, 2009. Biography Early life In the summer of 2003, Ayaka began a live performance in her hometown of Osaka. In the spring of 2004, she started going to the music school "Voice", the principal of which is her former music producer Yoshihiko Nishio, in Fukuoka. She commuted between Osaka and Fukuoka every weekend and started to learn a songwriting under the direction of Nishio. She eventually transferred to another high school in Fukuoka. The demo of songs which she produced in "Voice" was soon brought to the music industry and led to her contract with Warner Music Japan. 2006 In January 2006, Ayaka recorded " I Believe" as the opening theme for the Japanese drama ''Rondo''. The full single was first released as a download-only single and went ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kobukuro
, a Japanese band, formed in 1998 and made its major label debut in 2001. The name is a portmanteau of the two family names, Kentarō Kobuchi and Shunsuke Kuroda. Members * * The band's visual appearance is unusual; there are only two people, and Kuroda stands over 193 cm (6'4") tall. History In May 1998, Kobuchi and Kuroda met each other in Sakai near Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of .... Kobuchi was a salesman who held street concerts every Saturday for relaxation and Kuroda was a physical education teacher and a street musician. In September the same year, Kobuchi offered Kuroda a song and seeing that Kuroda was not a skilled guitar player, Kobuchi became the guitar player of the group. Thus, ''Kobukuro'' was formed. Kobukuro received moderately suc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Miyuki Kawanaka
is a Japanese enka singer. Her singing career spanned over four decades. She married Katsuo Yamada in 1991. Early life Kawanaka was born Kimiko Kawanaka in Yonago, Tottori. At a young age, she moved to Suita, Osaka where she grew up. In 1973, at age 18, she debuted as Kasuga Harumi and tried to become a pop idol with the release of the songs "Shinjuku Tenshin" and "Kantsubaki no Shima Kara". Both singles failed and she returned to Osaka to work at her mother's okonomiyaki is a Japanese savory pancake dish consisting of wheat flour batter and other ingredients (mixed, or as toppings) cooked on a '' teppan'' (flat griddle). Common additions include cabbage, meat, and seafood, and toppings include ''okonomiyaki' ... restaurant. In 1976, she won a contest singing "Anatani Inochi Gake". She adopted stage name Miyuki Kawanaka and launched her second debut as an enka singer. In 1980 Kawanaka's single ''Futarizake'' (ふたり酒) hit, with sales over a million copies. Her ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yūsaku Kiyama
Yūsaku, Yusaku or Yuusaku is a masculine Japanese given name. Possible writings Yūsaku can be written using different combinations of kanji characters. Some examples: *勇作, "courage, make" *勇策, "courage, scheme" *雄作, "masculine, make" *雄策, "masculine, scheme" *祐作, "to help, make" *祐策, "to help, scheme" *友作, "friend, make" *友策, "friend, scheme" *優作, "superiority, make" *優策, "superiority, scheme" *有作, "to have, make" *有策, "to have, scheme" *悠作, "long time, make" *悠策, "long time, scheme" The name can also be written in hiragana ゆうさく or katakana is a Japanese syllabary, one component of the Japanese writing system along with hiragana, kanji and in some cases the Latin script (known as rōmaji). The word ''katakana'' means "fragmentary kana", as the katakana characters are derived f ... ユウサク. Notable people with the name *, Japanese writer *, Japanese baseball player *, Japanese rugby union player *, Ja ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ai Otsuka
is a Japanese singer-songwriter from Suminoe-ku, Osaka, Japan. She is a popular artist on the Avex Trax label and is best known for her 2003 hit "Sakuranbo", which stayed in the Top 200 Oricon Weekly Singles Chart for 103 weeks. A piano player since age four, Otsuka composes and co-produces her own songs, as well as writes her own lyrics. Her music ranges from upbeat pop/rock music to ballads. Every year, Otsuka also has her own ''Love is Born'' tour to mark the anniversary of being in the music industry and her birthday in September. All of the ''Love is Born'' concerts take place in Japan, ending in her hometown of Osaka. On ''Love is Born 5th Anniversary'' in 2008, Otsuka held a leg of the concert in Taiwan, where she performed a Chinese version of her song "Planetarium". In 2009, Otsuka held 3 ''Love is Born 6th Anniversary'' concerts in Japan, as well as two concerts in Taiwan. In 2012, Otsuka debuted as the vocalist of the band Rabbit. She sold 7 million copies in Japan. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sayuri Ishikawa
is a Japanese enka singer who made her professional debut in 1973. With a career nearing five decades, she is one of the most-recognized and successful enka singers in history. Ishikawa is a popular contestant on the annual NHK ''Kōhaku Uta Gassen'' broadcast. Up till 2017, she has been invited to perform 40 times since 1977, the year she released her biggest hit, " Tsugaru Kaikyo-Fuyugeshiki". To date, she holds the record for the most appearances in the ''NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen'' for a female artist. She has released over 100 albums (including compilation albumsIshikawa's official website lists only her Teichiku albums.) and more than 120 singles, of which a few were not enka, but rock and jazz music instead. Another of her biggest hits, " Amagi-goe", which was released in 1986, won her many awards, and many believe that it was this song that made her an icon as an A-list enka singer. Biography Ishikawa grew up during enka's heyday and went with her mother and grandmother to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Takeshi Kitayama
Takeshi ( in hiragana or in katakana) is a masculine Japanese given name. Possible writings *武, "warrior" *毅, "strong" *猛, "fierce" *健, "healthy" *剛, "sturdy" *彪, "spotted" *威, "intimidate" *壮, "robust" *丈, "length" *雄, "masculine" *豪, "overpowering" *武史, "warrior, history" *武士, "warrior, gentleman" *健史, "healthy, history" *猛司, "fierce, director" *剛士, "sturdy, gentleman" *健士, "healthy, gentleman" *武志, "warrior, "intention" *丈史, "length, history" *剛始, "sturdy, commence" *猛司, "fierce, director" *勇志, "courage, intention" *雄志, "masculine, intention" *猛士, "fierce, gentleman" *岳志, "peak, intention" *剛志, "sturdy, intention" *岳史, "peak, history" People with the name *, Japanese ice hockey player *, Japanese voice actor *, Japanese ice hockey player *, Japanese shogi player *, Japanese basketball player *, Japanese baseball player *, Japanese figure skater *, Japanese animator *, Japanese footballer *, Ja ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ikimono-gakari
The romanization of the group's name does not have the hyphen according to Sony's websites for their albums. is a Japanese pop rock duo from Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan consisting of Yoshiki Mizuno and Kiyoe Yoshioka. The group started in February 1999 with Hotaka Yamashita and Yoshiki Mizuno, who had known each other since they were six years old, and was joined by vocalist Kiyoe Yoshioka in November of the same year. The group's name is a reference to , a group of children who are responsible for looking after plants and animals in Japanese elementary schools. In 2006, the group released its first single on Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Epic Records label. Several of their albums have reached number one on the Oricon weekly rankings, and their songs have been featured on various media: from TV commercials, anime shows such as ''Naruto Shippuden'', Japanese TV Dramas such as , live action movies such as , the 2012 Olympic broadcast theme song for NHK, and the set piece for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Saburō Kitajima
is a Japanese enka singer, lyricist, actor and composer. Background He was born Minoru Ōno (大野 穣), in Shiriuchi, Hokkaidō, to a fisherman. He was very poor due to the effects of World War II, and was forced to work while he studied. Music career When he was about to graduate from high school, he decided to become a singer. His debut single was called "Bungacha-Bushi," which was released in 1962. He has many famous songs, including "Namida Bune" (1962), "Kyōdai Jingi" (1965), "Yosaku" (1978) and "Kita no Ryōba" (1986). His 1965 song "Kaerokana" was written by lyricist Rokusuke Ei and composer Hachidai Nakamura. He is very popular in Japan partly due to his looks of a physical laborer, and he mostly sings in the spirit of Japan's working class and rural laborers. Kitajima regularly appeared on ''Kōhaku Uta Gassen'', an annual end-of-year TV program where many major Japanese singers gather to perform, before announcing his retirement from the show in 2013. He pa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |