NHK's annual 'Kohaku' music show sees rating fall to record low

TV: It's so last century. And frankly I'd almost rather be sitting in a dentist's chair than watch another Kohaku.

Hell would consist of being forced to watch reruns of Kohaku and the Eurovision Song Contest.

I felt very sorry for the 'gaijin' members of the Japan Rugby team who had to sit through that old and tried display of "Japan-ness." It brought back bad memories of my first and and most pathetic first New Year's eve in Japan ever: Nowhere to go in a dead neighborhood, cold as a witch's butt and under a kotatsu eating mikan and trying to make sense of Morning Musume lyrics with limited hiragana....fast forward to 2019 and thank God for Youtube, Amazon and Netflix!!!

Only old people watch this snoozefest.

So glad I was able to miss it again this year.

Despite... or because?

They thought Takeshi Kitano and Kiss would be a ratings winner?!

Japanese TV continues it’s slow death.

despite special appearances by stars including comedian Takeshi Kitano and American rock band Kiss

Execs meeting on Monday morning:

"I just don't understand it - we had a no-mark shouter in a bad wig, who's on telly every other night of the year, and backed him up with a bunch of 70-year olds miming their most recent hits (from 1993). It looked foolproof! Where did we go wrong?"

"This must never happen again. Get me Akiko Wada. And extend the no-booze zone around the Shibuya Crossing".

In its heyday up the 1980s

Why take it out on the 1980s?

Shocking.... more than 37% of viewers chose to watch this. How bad is the alternative programming?

I had to go into the living room to get another tinnie on NYE and my wife and daughter were watching the tribute to the Japanese Rugby team. It was a bunch of shimmering Johnnie's prettyboys singing "Come on Baby - America".

Rugby = America?

I didn't hang around. Back to the study with Sir Roger and M. Courvoisier.

I think Kohaku gives a good overall taste of pop music in Japan with a bit of Enka thrown in for the older folks and those with an interest in it. I am too often disappointed by the number of artists that are unable to stay in tune or who sound flat. This isn’t just a problem in Japan. With the exception of Superfly I am underwhelmed with the latest crop of Kohaku participants.

Wolfpack

You're right about Superfly. She did an amazing number.

hard to believe people watch that garbage

The viewing numbers say it all!

And yet, more of the same for 2021. No one at Nhk will ever scrap this. No one in charge or responsible anyway. The 6 and 7 o clock news in English should be retitled as the weather reports in English. Worst thing is that NHK is the best of the tv stations. The interesting one is NHK world with some great documentaries.

of course NHK has Sumo So can forgive them a lot.

just watched the Ekiden, that is Tv making from the 50’s. only in Japan

fast forward to 2019 and thank God for Youtube, Amazon and Netflix!!!

dude I hear you I hear you, if it wasn't for the internet I would have gone crazy years ago.

wtfjapanToday 03:17 pm JSTfast forward to 2019 and thank God for Youtube, Amazon and Netflix!!!

dude I hear you I hear you, if it wasn't for the internet I would have gone crazy years ago.

Everywhere I went in North America this year, it's the same bland gruel. TV and radio sucks big time!

I watch it every year and I t seems to folllow the same tired old formula. Some creative thinking could reinvent it. NHK fee payers deserve better!!!

No arguments there Elvis. Quick question...Why do you watch it every year?

it's more like a lip sync Festival then a music show.

And it's so obvious they are doing so

It's a quaint reminder of times gone past. But it's surely in need of a makeover, like the Eurovision.

Seriously the worst one in the past 20 years, which I have been forced to watch...

Why would they ever put KISS on Kohaku? Takeshi Kitano best days are behind him and is boring.

The singers can't sing, some of the costumes are supposed to impress, but are really ridiculous.

The lip-syncing is insulting, don't these guys ever practice any?

This board the only place I can vent, if I pretend like I don't like it or don't act interested my wife will get upset, so I just go along, smile and have a few drinks.

But yeah, thank god for Netflix.

I'm blissfully ignorant of NHK's annual wowser schlockfest.

This board the only place I can vent, if I pretend like I don't like it or don't act interested my wife will get upset, so I just go along, smile and have a few drinks.

It’s a nostalgia thing for my wife. The Japanese are big on that. I stopped complaining about the state of Japanese popular music since music overall pretty much sucks everywhere now. Some complain about the lip-syncing but I prefer it to most of the ones that didn’t. Matsuda Seiko had one of the better performances and she is 30 years past her prime. Kohaku has become a sad spectacle

i actually dont know anyone who even has tv today

It used to be a pretty impressive music production. There was rarely any lip-syncing. Of course, it meant we had to listen to many off-key performances. But, at least they were really performing.

They had great set designs, costumes, and lighting back then, as well. And, the audio mix was always excellent, which was noticeable with all of the real bands they used to have. J-Pop wasn't always just boy bands and xyz48 girl idol groups. There used to be real bands with real songs. And, the Enka singers were pretty good, with awesome productions.

I'm a classic/hard rock/metal guy. But, I can appreciate most types of music, and good production values. (Probably due to decades as a music production professional.) Kohaku used to have that. I looked forward to it. Now, it really has gotten quite a bit boring. I hope the lower viewer rating acts as a wake-up call to get it back on track. I won't bet any yen on it, though.

WolfpackJan. 3 10:08 pm JSTThis board the only place I can vent, if I pretend like I don't like it or don't act interested my wife will get upset, so I just go along, smile and have a few drinks.

It’s a nostalgia thing for my wife. The Japanese are big on that. I stopped complaining about the state of Japanese popular music since music overall pretty much sucks everywhere now. Some complain about the lip-syncing but I prefer it to most of the ones that didn’t.

I know about the sickening 'idol' scene in Japan and it's just as vapid and stupid in America. About the only modern music acts I listen to or see are 'indy' or 'underground'. As for the Japanese music scene, I saw two bands from Japan last year. The lady punk trio Shonen Knife is always fun, and the modern psychedelic band Acid Mother Temple wowed everyone in the house with their innovative, exciting, and wild and crazy music! And then there's Boris.

If it weren't for the internet you couldn't find any good music at all. Destroy your radio.

I feel sorry for all of you who are *forced **to watch every year *:(

NHK made a dumb move with the Hibari Misora robot. She is the Queen of Japan music and is one the top sellers. They unveiled her robot in a documentary and performance a few months on NHK and on their Youtube page so everyone knew what to expect during the Kohaku performance. I bet ratings would have been a little higher if the unveiled it for Kohaku.

Ive just watched some clips on youtube, jeeps, the clips I've seen rather unrehearsed, lame, and not a polished performance as you would expect.

Everyone I know watched 笑ってはいけない... Isn't Kohaku for old people? We just flipped back and forth between Gaki and Sasuke.

Although my daughter was up for the first time (she wasn't feeling good) and all the next day she was running around saying ママ、ダダ、ジージ、バーバ、アウト！ and arm chopping us in the legs so it would probably have been a better idea to watch kohaku lol

NHK fee payers deserve better!!!

NHK fee payers have been duped into paying NHK.

Takeshi could not carry the song at all. I did see his performance, if you can call it that. Kiss was awful as well but they always are so that is no surprise. Wonder how much NHK paid Kiss to be on the show on December 31st. That is your money being wasted if you donate to the NHK. Most of the viewers of Kohaku do not know who Kiss is I am sure.

The whole program was horrible, embarrassing really. How many boy or girl bands can one person stand? And way too much enka. wow, that music is for those aged over 85 or in the Yakuza or both basically. I was with the in-laws and the TV was on if you are wondering.

Do we have to judge what's good or bad on each things?

Some shows are for some and some for some.

Let people enjoy what shows that can entertain them and you enjoy yours!

It's just the ratings down! Eventually it will go down further in some years because the generation is changing.

All the shows that this young generation are enjoying at the moment will be laughed out by next young generation anyway. Those Mukbang shows and those vids where people enjoying watching people playing video games and all those are all laughable but far better to ignore it.

We'd probably have more of this rubbish forced upon us were we to all pay the NHK fee.

I unintentionally saw a bit of the most recent effort but I could have been watching a repeat of any show from the past five decades and I don't think I would have known the difference. I'm sure the old folks whose opinions count for far too much in this country still like it just fine so I doubt poor ratings or substandard quality will ever matter.

It's sad really.

I used to be an avid fan in the late 90's-early 2000's, but the artists were much better and I actually used to keep up with JPOP.

NHK is really dropping the ball here with the show, it could be a whole lot more exciting if they kept up with the times and made changes to the format and what not. Perhaps include some social media aspects or cutting down the time on it or whatever.

But just like the rest of Japan, don't fix it until after it hits rock bottom.

As for KISS, well. This isn't the 70's or whenever it was when they were huge. WCW (World Championship Wrestling) once tried to use them to get their company back over with the fans. It was a disaster. This was back around 1999. 20 years ago. It didn't work then, it sure isn't going to work now.