The was the 2021 (

Reiwa is the current and 232nd era of the official calendar of Japan. It began on 1 May 2019, the day on which Emperor Akihito's eldest son, Naruhito, ascended the throne as the 126th Emperor of Japan. The day before, Emperor Akihito abdicated ...

3) edition of

NHK , also known by its Romanization of Japanese, romanized initialism NHK, is a Japanese public broadcasting, public broadcaster. It is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television licence, television license fee. NHK ope ...

's television special

Kōhaku Uta Gassen , more commonly known simply as ''Kōhaku'', is an annual New Year's Eve television special produced by Japanese public broadcaster NHK. It is broadcast live simultaneously on television and radio, nationally and internationally by the NHK net ...

, held on December 31, 2021, live from the hall A of

Tokyo International Forum The is a multi-purpose exhibition center in Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan. The complex is generally considered to be in the Yūrakuchō business district, being adjacent to Yūrakuchō Station, but it is administratively in the Marunouchi district. Toky ...

(Tokyo, Japan), and broadcast in Japan through NHK General Television and NHK Radio 1, and worldwide through TV Japan (US only) and

NHK World Premium NHK World Premium is a TV news and entertainment broadcasting service offered by NHK World-Japan, the international arm of Japan's public broadcaster NHK. The service is aimed towards Japanese Diaspora and the overseas market, similar to worldwi ...

. Yo Oizumi, Haruna Kawaguchi & Mayuko Wakuda served as show hosts. The Red team won this event.

About the show

This year's edition took place on

, since the usual venue,

NHK Hall The NHK Hall is a concert hall located at the NHK Broadcasting Center, the main headquarters of Japan's Public broadcasting, public broadcaster NHK. The hall is the main venue for the NHK Symphony Orchestra, but it has also played host to other e ...

is currently undergoing renovations, to be done in time for the 73rd edition (2022). Starting this year, there will be no longer separate hosts for the Red and White team. Instead, the hosts will share duties with the general host, encouraging the performers, regardless of their gender. The theme for the 72nd edition is "Colorful", based on an idea of "I want to make the world as colorful as possible on the last night of 2021". The new logo for the show is also introduced: it is a gradient image that goes from red to white. This was the first edition in two years to be held with an audience, with a certain number of spectators. After 50 appearances (the last being in 2020), Hiroshi Itsuki announced that he will not participate in this Kouhaku during a concert held on October 17. Once again, Shunichi Tokura conducted the choir in the closing song " Hotaru no Hikari". On December 25, Seiko Matsuda, who was scheduled to participate in the event, announced that she would withdraw from the event due to the sudden death of her daughter

Sayaka Kanda , also known professionally as Sayaka, Lily, and , was a Japanese actress, singer, and model. She was the only child of actor Masaki Kanda and pop singer Seiko Matsuda. Early life Kanda was born at Tokyo Teishin Hospital in Chiyoda, Tokyo. She ...

. On December 27, the performance order was revealed. LiSA and Hiromi Go will open the show, while Masaharu Fukuyama and MISIA (who makes her second consecutive Ootori) will repeat their closing acts from last year. Rehearsals took place from December 28 until the morning of the live show. Due to copyright reasons, LiSA's performance from her song "Homura" could not be shown on the NHK World Premium broadcast (due to the use of scenes from the anime Demon Slayer), with only the artist's photo, in this case, LiSA, being shown.

Artist lineup

;SONGS PERFORMED ON MEDLEYS * Tomoyasu Hotei: "Battle Without Honor or Humanity", "Sayonara Seishun no Hikari" * MISIA: "Ashita e", "Higher Love" ;ADDITIONAL MUSIC * "Ode to Joy" - Composed by Ludwig Van Beethoven * "Next Episode" - Shiro Sagisu (from Neon Genesis Evangelion OST) * "I Can't Help Falling in Love" - Performed by Hi-STANDARD (Original by Elvis Presley) * "You've Got a Friend" - Performed by Carole King

Guest Performers

* Midories * Ryunosuke Kamiki - Aoi voice actor * Fumi Nikaido - Ki voice actress * Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra - Dragon Quest music performers * Takayuki Yamada - Dragon Quest VTR narrator * Natsuki Hanae - Tanjiro Kamado voice actor * Megumi Ogata - Shinji Ikari voice actress * Megumi Hayashibara - Rei Ayanami voice actress * Yuko Miyamura - Asuka Langley voice actress * Kotono Mitsuishi - Misato Katsuragi voice actress * Fumihiko Tachiki - Gendou Ikari voice actor * Yoko Takahashi - Performer on "A Cruel Angel's Thesis" * Kendama Chiba-chan, Kendama Heroes 2021, Taiyu Shoinji, Zuu Mandrake, DJ KOO, Fuku Suzuki, Mook - Kendama players on Hiroshi Miyama's performance * Azuma - Flower artist on Yuzu's performance * Fuu Hanataka - Hiroshi Miyama VTR narrator * Kreva,

Miyavi , better known by his stage name MIYAVI (雅, ''Miyabi'', stylized in all caps), is a Japanese guitarist, singer-songwriter, record producer, and actor known for his finger- slapping style of playing a guitar. He has been active since 1999, f ...

- Guest performers on Sayuri Ishikawa's performance * Osaka Toin High School Symphonic Band - Guest musicians on Yoshimi Tendo's performance * Nobuyoshi Kuwano, Yoshio Sato - Members from Rats & Star, guest vocalists on Masayuki Suzuki's performance * Hayato Sumino - Piano on Mone Kamishiraishi's performance * Hitori Gekidan - Reprising his role as a control booth technician from the 2020 Summer Olympics opening ceremony

Voting System

This year, the ''3-Point System'' was used again. One point is given from the six judges, another one from audience in TIF, and last one from the viewers. The team with at least 2 points is declared winner of the 72nd edition.

References

{{Kōhaku Uta Gassen events NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen events 2021 in Japanese music 2021 in Japanese television