Kohaku Uta Gassen Lineup 2010

紅白歌合戦

With just over a month remaining in 2010, Japanese eyes are beginning to turn towards the annual "Kohaku Uta Gassen" New Year's Eve television extravaganza.

Unlike the West, New Year's Eve in Japan is a fairly quiet night. Many families stay in and watch Kohaku, which literally means "Red White."

In short, the program is a singing "battle." The great and not so great, talented and not so talented from Japan's music world are divided into Red (female) and White (male) teams. A panel of almost as famous judges evaluates each act, and then just prior to the tolling of the temple bells to ring in the new year one team is declared the winner.

In recent years, the men have been very strong.

The list of guests on the NHK program was recently announced.

Here is the 2010 lineup:

Red Team

aiko
Angela Aki
Ikimono Gakari
Sayuri Ishikawa
Kane Uemura
AKB48
Miyuki Kawanaka
Kumi Koda
Natsuko Godai
Sachiko Kobayashi
Fuyumi Sakamoto
Yoshimi Tendo
DREAMS COME TRUE
Mitsuko Nakamura
Kana Nishino
Ayumi Hamasaki
Perfume
Ayaka Hirahara
Nana Mizuki
Kaori Mizumori
Akiko Wada

White Team

Arashi
Hiroshi Itsuki
HY
EXILE
NYC
Yuzo Kayama
Saburo Kitajima
Hiromi Go
Kobukuro
SMAP
TOKIO
Hideaki Tokunaga
AAA
Kiyoshi Hikawa
FUNKY MONKEY BABYS
Masaharu Fukuyama
flumpool
Takashi Hosokawa
Porno Graffiti
Shinichi Mori
Yusuke Yuzu
L'Arc en Ciel

The big surprise was the exclusion of Kenichi Mikawa, who is a man, pictured above.

On the women's side two stalwarts, Kyoto's Kumi Koda and veteran Akiko Wada, will attempt to defeat the men.

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Civil disobedience in Japan - NHK fee

NHK受信料




Civil disobedience in Japan? Conjures up images of anti-Vietnam War, anti-Narita Airport student demos in the 1960s and 1970s. However, it's been happening for years in a much milder way vis-à-vis the national broadcaster Nippon Hōsō Kyōkai (NHK) (Japan Broadcasting Corporation) and its monthly television fee that all TV owners in Japan are by law required to pay.

However, in spite of payment being compulsory, no penalties are stipulated for failure to pay. NHK therefore has relied on bluster and threats to try and get people to pay. NHK fee collectors are renowned for their persistence and aggressiveness. Once you open the door to them, they will put their foot in the door, making it impossible to close it, and whether or not you pay is the result of a raw battle of wills. I now live in an apartment which requires entry by buzzer. Even then, when I played dumb over the intercom last month to the collector, he bellowed "OPEN UP!" – genuinely steaming!

However, according to the latest news reports, NHK has got tough (news that, somehow or other, feels like a repetition of past episodes). NHK has targeted eight TV owners in Tokyo, Chiba, Osaka Hyogo (capital: Kobe), Aichi, Fukushima (home to Oze National Park), Okayama, and Kochi by sending them a notice that unless they pay by the deadline, they will be sent a payment order from the district court.

Refusal to pay the NHK fee has become an institution in Japan, with at least one blog devoted to promoting non-payment, and YouTube videos telling you how to avoid having to pay.

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