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62nd NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen
The , referred to from hereon as "Kōhaku", aired on December 31, 2011, from NHK Hall in Japan beginning from 7:15 p.m. JST. The year's theme was "Ashita o Utaou" ("Let's sing for tomorrow"), which aimed to spread positive thoughts to a country still rocked by the aftermath of the Tohoku earthquake and subsequent tsunami. The theme also sought to begin the new year with a fresh hope. This is the first edition to broadcast in digital terrestrial televisions (except in Fukushima, Miyagi, and Iwate prefectures), as the Japan already switched over since July 24, 2011. The white team's 6-year reign as the winners of Kōhaku Uta Gassen came to end as The 62nd Kōhaku Uta Gassen was won by the red team. Kohaku aired a pre-recorded performance for the first time with Lady Gaga's " Born This Way". Performers Mao Inoue, the host of the Red Team, is a Japanese actress best known for her roles in ''Hana Yori Dango'' (Boys Over Flowers), and ''Kids War'' and co-starring with Chizuru ...
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Mao Inoue
Mao Inoue (井上 真央, ''Inoue Mao'', born January 9, 1987), is a Japanese actress. She is best known to Japanese television drama audiences as Makino Tsukushi in the '' Boys Over Flowers'' series and as Sugi Fumi ( ja) in the 54th taiga drama '' Burning Flower''. She has also appeared in several films, including '' I Give My First Love to You'', '' Rebirth,'' and '' The Snow White Murder Case''. Career Dramas and films Inoue Mao began her acting career at the age of five, appearing in the television series ''Kids War'' from 1999 to 2003. She gained widespread recognition in 2005 for her portrayal of Tsukushi Makino in '' Boys Over Flowers'', earning her a Best Actress Award from the Television Drama Academy. Inoue made her film debut in 2006 with ''Check It Out, Yo!'' and subsequently starred in the television drama ''First Kiss'' alongside Yūta Hiraoka. She continued to take on prominent roles in television, including the drama special ''Hanaikusa'', in which she playe ...
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Funky Monkey Babys
is a Japanese band formed in 2004 under the record company Dreamusic Incorporated. Their music is mostly hip hop, but is also inspired by pop and rock music. All members in the group are from Hachiōji, Tokyo. They are known for featuring celebrities in their promotion videos and singles jackets. The band is also known as Fan-mon (ファンモン) in short. History Their fourth single, "Lovin' Life", is a charted hit that recorded long sales and received multiple high rankings on the Japanese sales charts in the first half of 2007. In July 2007, they released another single, "Chippoke na Yūki". They attracted fans with their high energy live performances all over Japan and continued to gain popularity in various popular media. On 10 February 2010, the band released their first greatest-hits album ''Funky Monkey Babys Best''. The album debuted at number one on the Japanese Oricon weekly charts with the first week sales of around 255,000 copies. They announced their intent t ...
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Shinichi Mori
known professionally as is a Japanese male enka singer and composer, who also sings folk and pop music. He has sold more than 90 million records, making him one of the best selling Japanese musicians. Mori has been married and divorced twice, first to Reiko Ohara and then to Masako Mori. His sons, Takahiro Moriuchi and Hiroki Moriuchi, are the vocalists of the rock bands One Ok Rock and My First Story, respectively. Career In the beginning, Mori won a competition at Fuji Television Network in 1965. He debuted with the successful song "Onna no Tameiki" of the famous composer Inomata Kōshō in 1966. His debut at ''Kōhaku Uta Gassen'' was in 1968, singing "Hana To Chō". His 1974 Japan Record Award-winning song "Erimo Misaki" (襟裳岬) was composed by Takuro Yoshida. His 1982 song "Fuyu no Riviera" (冬のリヴィエラ) was composed by Eiichi Ohtaki, former member of Happy End. His song "Ofukuro san" (おふくろさん) was covered by Sharam Q in their 1997 ...
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Kaori Mizumori
(born 31 August 1973) is a Japanese enka singer with Tokuma Japan Communications is a publisher in Japan, headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. The company was established in 1954 by Yasuyoshi Tokuma in Minato, Tokyo. The company's product portfolio includes music publishing, video game publishing, movies, anime, magazines, man .... Her real name is . She started her enka singing career in 1995. Her songs are usually titled after Japanese landmarks and Japanese nature, which are widely accepted and well received, making Mizumori extremely popular and receiving many invitations to be the ambassador of many regions in Japan. Unlike her enka singing peers, Mizumori usually performs in Western dresses, instead of the traditional kimono. Currently she holds the record of having the most top ten singles for a female enka singer. All her singles have entered the top 10 Oricon Chart since 2004. Mizumori is also a regular at the annual NHK Red and White Song Festival, with New Year's ...
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L'Arc-en-Ciel
, stylized as L'Arc〜en〜Ciel and abbreviated as Laruku, is a Japanese rock band formed in Osaka in 1991 by bassist Tetsuya and vocalist Hyde. Following the departure of original members Hiro and Pero, guitarist Ken and drummer Sakura were recruited to replace them in 1992 and 1993, respectively. While they first got their start as a visual kei band, L'Arc-en-Ciel have not had any association with the movement since their major label debut in 1994. Sakura left the band in 1997 and was replaced by Yukihiro in January 1998, completing the current line-up. With a reported 40 million records sold, L'Arc-en-Ciel are one of the best-selling music artists in Japan. Their 1999 simultaneously-released albums '' Ark'' and '' Ray'' are each one of the best-selling albums of all time in Japan. L'Arc-en-Ciel have had seven number one studio albums and 21 number one singles. They were ranked number 58 on a 2003 list of the top 100 Japanese pop musicians by HMV Japan, and were the first ...
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Natsuko Godai
, (born 18 December 1961), of Tokyo, Japan, is a Japanese enka singer. Career In 1982, under the alias "Hiromi Hoshi", she debuted with "Koi no Ienakiko" ('恋の家なき子'), released by New Century Records. In April 1985, she used the name "Yuki Kagawa" with the song "Yoake Made Yokohama" ('夜明けまでヨコハマ'). In 1986, using her real name Terumi Nakagawa, she released the song "Yume Kizuna" ('夢きずな'). In 1987, she used the name Natsuko Godai, combining characters from the names of fellow Enka singers Hiroshi Itsuki and Aki Yashiro whom she greatly admired. Under that alias, she released her first major album, 'Modori Gawa' ('戻り川'). In 1990, she released the hit single and appeared in ''Kōhaku Uta Gassen'' for the first of more than 20 appearances. "Shinobu Ame" reached 12th in the Oricon Weekly Singles Chart. She is the tourism ambassador for Ozu, Ehime prefecture. Personal life She is the daughter of a fish dealer who had a storefront i ...
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Porno Graffitti
, also known as , are a Japanese Rock music, rock band from Onomichi, Hiroshima, Onomichi (formerly Innoshima, Hiroshima, Innoshima), Hiroshima Prefecture. The band got their name from the album ''Pornograffitti'' by the band Extreme (band), Extreme. They currently record under the SME Records label and their agency is Amuse, Inc. History Haruichi Shindō originally formed the band with his cousin during high school and named it "No Score." After the band started, Haruichi asked Akihito Okano and Tama to join. The band was so named because none of them could actually read a score when they first started. When they first started the band Haruichi was the vocalist, but he found out that Akihito could sing better and gave the vocalist position to Akihito, taking over as guitarist instead. This was the foundation of Porno Graffitti. They debuted with the song ''Apollo'' in 1999. Their two subsequent CD singles, ''Saudade'' and ''Agehachō'', both sold over a million copies in Jap ...
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Nana Mizuki
, better known by the stage name , is a Japanese voice actress, singer, and narrator. She is represented by the agency StarCrew. Mizuki was trained as an enka singer, releasing one single under her birth name in 1993 and made her debut as a voice actress in 1996. Her prominent roles include Hinata Hyuga in the long-running ninja series ''Naruto'' as well in '' Boruto: Naruto Next Generations'', Tamao Tamamura in ''Shaman King'' 2001 and 2021, Colette Brunel in '' Tales of Symphonia'', Fate Testarossa in '' Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha'', Tsubasa Kazanari in '' Symphogear'', Moka Akashiya in '' Rosario + Vampire'', Tsubomi Hanasaki (Cure Blossom) in '' Heartcatch Precure!'' and Ann Takamaki in '' Persona 5''. She also had official dubbing roles in live action version of '' Itazura na Kiss'' from Korea and Taiwan, as well in '' Hunger Games'' film series as Katniss Everdeen (played by Jennifer Lawrence). She is also famous for dubbing roles portrayed by Taiwanese actress, Ariel ...
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Takashi Hosokawa
, born 細川貴志 (Hosokawa Takashi) on 15 June 1950, Makkari, Abuta District, Hokkaidō, Japan) is a Japanese ''enka'' singer. In 1975, he debuted with the song "Kokoro Nokori". Hosokawa immediately became one of the most popular ''enka'' and pop singers in Japan. He took part in the ''Kōhaku Uta Gassen'' for 32 consecutive years, but he was finally forced to reject NHK's offer in 2007 due to the Enten controversy The Enten controversy involved Kazutsugi Nami, the chairman of Tokyo bedding supplier Ladies & Gentlemen (L&G), arrested by Japanese police on 5 February 2009. He and twenty-one other executives were accused of defrauding 37,000 investors of at l ..... He returned to take part in the 2009 edition and continued until 2015. Discography References External links Official Website {{DEFAULTSORT:Hosokawa, Takashi 1950 births Living people Japanese male singers Enka singers Musicians from Hokkaido ...
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Ayako Fuji
(real name , née , born May 10, 1961) is a Japanese enka singer. She is signed onto Sony Music Japan. Born in Kakunodate, Akita, Fuji graduated from Akita Prefectural Kakunodate South High School.藤あや子 - Gallery 彩 オフィシャルサイト


Enka career

Fuji made her enka debut on September 21, 1989.


Releases (solo)


Hit songs

* ''Onna'', 1990 * ''Ameyo Zake'', 1991 * ''Kokoro Zake'', 1992 * ''Murasaki Ujō'', 1993 * ''Hana no Waltz'', 1994 * ''Miren'', 1995 * ''Utakata no Koi'', 1998 * ''Yuki shin shin'', 1998


Audio releases

* ''Ayako Fuji: Best Of Best'', June 20, 2001 * ''Ayako Fuji zenkyokushu'', Novem ...
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Ken Hirai
is a Japanese singer-songwriter. Since his debut, Hirai has worked as a model, actor, composer, lyricist, singer, and brand ambassador. During his career, Hirai has released forty-seven singles and eleven studio albums as of January 2024.
According to , his single '' Hitomi o Tojite'' (''Close Your Eyes'') became the best-selling single of 2004 in Japan,Oricon Annual Ranking 2004
while his compilation album ''
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